frauke at large

And Ping’An finally revealed itself to us in its full rice terrace glory. The heavy clouds and mist finally lifted and we were left with breathtaking views over some of the worlds most magnificent rice terraces.

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we woke up and looked out of the window … there they were: the reason for why we flew 2.5 hours and drove another 3 hours in a car … Ping’An’s rice terraces. We even finally got to see how high up in the mountains we actually were and how small the village was that we were staying in. Did the exact same walk that we did on day one … only this time we did it the other way around and we actually got to see what was around us. Saw many people tending their rice fields and filling the individual basins with water. As the rice crop is only planted and harvested once a year in Ping’An, as opposed to twice a year in many other regions, we were there at the right time to see how the water filled terraces reflect the sky and produce a most spectacular scenery. Got to a great vantage point on one of the peeks where we had ice cream and ginger/lemon tea …

Just so that you can see where we actually were: here a picture of the village with the surrounding terraces. I was glad that I had taken my hiking boots, as the village is not accessible by car and you actually need to trek for about 20 minutes from the nearest road to got to it. And thank goodness for that … imagine how horrible the place would be if it were overrun by tourist and you could no longer hear the birds and enjoy the scenery? Next time we’ll try and come in autumn, when everything is golden coloured and the rice is about to be harvested … the perfect retreat to enjoy a more rural China that is absolutely stunning.

I have now blogged about this phenomenon sooo many times, that I have given up counting. Yet the amusement factor is still just as high as when I first started taking notice of it. Signs in China and their fabulous interpretation of the English language. This particular selection is a rather eclectic mix. One of the signs was spotted on my latest trip at Guilin airport, one is from a recent trip to Shanghai, one was found on our campus and one of the signs is actually standing in my office as I write this … a gift from a colleague who is leaving and who has entrusted me with it.

Day two of our trip to Guanxi province and we left the misty mountains to find an architectural masterpiece: the Wind and Rain bridges of Sanjiang county. Guanxi province hosts several ethnic minorities – our village in the rice terraces is inhabited by the Zhuang people – and the Wind and Rain bridges were built by the Dong people.

An almost three hour drive away from our beautiful rice terraces – still submerged in mist – we reached the most spectacular bridges that I have ever seen. They were built in 18 something by the Dong people and are about 65 meters long and roughly 10 meters wide. Entirely constructed out of wood and stone pillars to support the wooden pavilions, they were originally used by the local people as market places, where they would come together to sell their produce such as rice, cloth and rice wine. I guess now it is more of a ‘selling kitsch to tourists’ market or trap, but you can imagine what it must have been like when they were first used.

Surrounding the bridges are several Dong villages and lush green rice fields. We spent several hours walking around in the villages and even found a nice restaurant where we had lunch. The pagoda in the village centre was also quite spectacular. Sat on a hilltop, it has over twenty roof levels reaching into the sky like giant wooden pyramid.

Ping’an is a Zhuang minority village roughly 800m high up in the mountains, north-west of Guilin in Guanxi province. It is famous for its over 700 year old terraced rice fields that are carved into the existing mountain peaks. From afar they look like a topographic map, snaking around the mountain ridge lines into valleys.

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a much more pressing and indeed interesting question is: how many polystyrene boxes can you get onto a chinese tricycle? And no, it’s not one of those jokes … You say 3? Perhaps 5? Pah – amateurs!

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in with the new. Or at least this is how it’s done in China. Indeed, all too often, and particularly in Shanghai, due to the Expo and for reasons of development and growth, the small Shanghainese town houses are being destroyed and replaced by ugly, monotonous skyscrapers.

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I have mentioned many many times before that Shanghai is one of my favourite cities i the world … well, of all those that I have been to, obviously … rivaled only by New York, Sydney, Tokyo and parts of Paris. And so, after not having been there for quite a while, it was about time that I went back to see what’s new … what with the Expo starting soon and all …

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An eclectic mixture today,

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Considering that this is my 100th blog entry, I thought I’d make it a special one and report from my day off in the tea plantations outside of Ningbo. I had previously attempted to visit them, when I went to see Tiantong temple almost two years ago, but had been denied access due to bad weather. However, with weather like we’ve been having over the last few days … there was no stopping us this time.

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With the weather finally having changed from permanent horizontal rain with snow to a lovely 25′C and sunny, I took a short walk around the area just outside campus.

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