Aaron Frohrib: Hero

One of our closest foreign friends, both in terms of distance and relationship is Mr Aaron Frohrib: professional hero, semi-professional English teacher.

On Thursday we were able to go and visit him in Dao Xian, just 2 hours away by bus, to help celebrate his 25th birthday. It was kinda lucky that we were spending Thursday night away from Lanshan, for that morning Anthony had decided to do some tidying up. Anthony is not generally known for his housekeeping skills and one particularly nasty situation that had arisen there involved his fridge.

People here are generous to a fault and we have been given all kinds of stuff that we neither want nor need, including food. We have no kitchens, no appliances, no utensils, no way of preparing any kind of food whatsoever...but we do have fridges. Don't ask me why. So we can store food, and when we get given left overs they usually just go straight into the fridge until we can sneak out at night and throw it away. Sometimes these left-overs get forgotten though. When they are remembered, they're usually in the kind of state where you'd rather you hadn't. This was the case with Anthony's fridge. He'd become aware over time that there was stuff in there but, as he'd never had cause to open it, he'd never managed to get round to actually doing something about it. We'd always talk about what new life-forms may now be lurking in there and how one day he'd have to open it up but always at that time, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Three months passed by.

So on Thursday while clearing out some rubbish I went round to Anthony's. Before I'd walked into his apartment the stench hit me full force.

'Oh my God you opened your fridge!'

As I turned to run back out the door I could hear Anthony mumbling 'oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh Jesus!'. He came out soon after me, holding a plastic bag at arm's length. We walked over to the skips near the English office as fast as we could without drawing too much attention, threw the bags in and ran for it. As we left one of the old women who sifts through the garbage for reuseable stuff came running out of the shack next door, eager to see what goodies we wasteful foreigners had left for her. She had a surprise in store and that's for certain. Poor woman...

Anthony's apartment still stank to high heaven, so we sprayed it with air freshener, left the windows open and went to catch our bus to Dao Xian.
Aaron came to China at the same time as me and we all had our inductions together in that first week many many months ago. In the meantime we'd become good friends and he'd come over to Lanshan quite a few times. This was the first time I could spend any decent amount of time in Dao Xian though. That night was his birthday and we all had a big dinner together with his colleagues and Liana and Liz, two other foreign teachers in the city. It was fun, and nice to chat to other foreigners. At the meal they served these special birthday baozi (steamed buns) that had been pulled to a peak at the end and dabbed with pink dye. It looked like a plate of nipples. No idea what all that was about.
The next day we had to head back to Lanshan for a farewell lunch so had to leave Dao Xian by 9.30am. Aaron had wanted to show us a nearby tower though, so we got up at 6.30am and went to take a look. The tower was pretty cool. About 400 years old and quite beautiful. It had received some restoration, but was still pretty abandoned and uncared for and Aaron noticed a big chunk of stone on the ground that had fallen off the pinnacle since he'd last been there a few weeks before.It was fun to explore. The stairs did not circle up continuously but you had to walk through different corridors on each level, and at times on the ledges outside to reach the next set. There was nothing left inside but I could imagine that it was pretty amazing back in it's day. At the top the stairway opened out onto a wide open parapet, where we sat down to eat big dragon-eye fruits and admire the morning view.We spent about an hour here. It was peaceful. I wish we could have stayed longer. It was Aaron's last few days in China and he was flying back to California very soon. His Chinese experience has been a very special one. He has become a local hero after saving a boy's life. A few weeks ago while walking along the river with some students he saw a young kid struggling out in the water. Without a second thought he stripped off his clothes, dove in and pulled the kid to safety where he managed to successfully revive him. He is so modest about it but you know he'd do it again in a split-second. My eroded vocabulary doesn't have enough good words to do him justice now. He was on TV for his act and a load of my students who had met him before came to tell me how they saw Aaron on TV, and that he was a hero for saving a boy's life. They already loved him, now they'll never forget him. We won't either.

And Then It Was Over...

...and that was that. Last Thursday, June 28th, was my last day of teaching at Lanshan No. 1 Middle School. A rollercoaster 10 months of experiences, which I'll have to reflect on later, as now I just don't have the time. The vast majority of weird and wonderful experiences happened to me outside school, but the ones that I'm most proud of and that have given me most joy have been the ones I've had inside the classroom.

And of all of those, my time spent with the Junior 1s has been the very best. So it was perfect that I rounded off my year with my four Junior 1 classes.First up was Class 176. It's very hard to make any distinction between the Junior 1 classes. Perhaps this was my least successful class, but only by a tiny, tiny margin - and then only because they were always the first of the week and were my testing ground for new activities and games, which did not always go 100% as intended... But we lay the blame for that on me, not the kids, who are wonderful. Each class had strong characters in it and this one had the most jokers. A little testing at times for discipline, but more often laughed along with than anything else.
Next up was Class 173. These gave me real cause for grief last week, when they went absolutely wild at the very end of class. We'd been playing a class game to practice asking and answering different questions, which started off in groups and worked it's way up to semi-finals and finals with sweets as a prize at each stage. I don't know why they went crazy, but they did, and I was more angry with them than I had ever been with any other class. I guess this was because I always had such high expectations of these kids and had never had any problems, unlike in other grades. This was totally out of character and really disappointed me. I was glad that they pulled it together for me though this week and I could remember them as fondly as I always had before.

Some of my most enthusiastic kids are in this class, although all Junior 1s are hyper-enthusiastic. I have my highest concentration of regular English Corner attendees here, and some kids that always go to the greatest lengths to please me. One boy in particular, who they call Watermelon in Chinese, will put his hand up every single time. In fact, each time I ask a question I can guarantee to be able to call upon at last half a dozen students for the answer - and this applies just as equally to all the other classes. All these kids love to participate, which is the most I ever ask for. I am rewarded by their consistent hard work and positive attitude which has allowed me to prepare my most fun and creative activities for these classes, and which gave me the confidence to be a total extrovert for them. I entertain as well as teach and here I have had the best audiences week after week. It's been a positive feedback thing and the benefit has been outstanding.
Third class of the week is Class 174. It would be incredibly difficult to try and choose a favourite class as I adore them all so much, but maybe this one would be top of the pile. It does have some of my favourite kids in it and I guess that pushes it up. I think this class is also the most appreciative of me teaching them. It would be pretty big-headed of me to say I was the highlight of their week, but even if I wasn't I was made to feel as though it were true. I had them last thing on Wednesdays, immediately after Class 173, and as soon as their previous class was over a load of them would run over to Class 173 to see what I was doing before dragging me over to their classroom ready for the next period. After our class the students have some time to do homework, but these kids always wanted me to stay and play games instead. That was cool. In the style of a manic audience at some rock concert, I'd ask them 'do you want me to go?' and get cries of 'no!! no!!' back. I'd ask 'do you want to play a game?' and they'd all cheer and shout out 'yes! yes! yes!'. We'd play hangman or word-snake for a good 25 minutes, until it was time for dinner. It was a fantastic time. So apologies for the number of photos above, but I just couldn't narrow the selection down and do them justice at the same time.
I finished with Class 175 on Thursday. The most reserved Junior 1 class, and the best behaved with some of the cutest kids of all. Great English too. So it was with these kids that I said goodbye. They all gave me presents and little notes and it was beautiful. The perfect ending.

When I think of things that I will miss about China, these Junior 1 students will be top of the list. I almost want to stay here to watch them grow up and see how they turn out. It feels strange to know that they will have another teacher next year. I feel jealous, possessive almost. I don't want to give them up. They are the greatest kids in the world and I will miss them dearly.

The Night Of The Blood Duck...

Last night I plucked a duck.

Note the careful spelling there...


I didn't pluck much of it. I helped clean up the bits that the previous plucker had missed, but it was enough. Last night I learned how to cook a local speciality - 'Blood Duck'. It sounds like something out of a horror movie featuring vampire zombie waterfowl but is actually quite delicious. I'd always hoped to learn how to cook 'proper' Chinese food and while I'm still a way off that I hope I've picked up a few tips.

Last night was the first time I've ever seen a duck (or anything at all actually) being gutted too. I'm fairly aware of what should be there on the inside, but even I was peering over thinking 'what the hell is that!'. I wondered whether I'd be able to bring myself to eat a dish cooked from such a recognisably whole-animal starting point, but I did. And there was less blood involved than I thought there would be.

We cooked in Little Mr Lei's apartment. Little Mr Lei has a teddy bear. And his English name is Coffee. He also fancies Seven. He spent 15 yuan at hoopla at the square trying to win her a bracelet, but ended up with a toy car instead. She seemed pleased enough. We spent the rest of the night shooting balloons with pellet guns so now I have a blister on my trigger finger...

Small Victories

Sometimes you just need a lucky break.

As part of my preparations to leave little Lanshan and travel as efficiently as possible during the summer I decided to post home as much of my stuff - books, winter clothes etc. - as possible. I asked round in town, Susan's post-office employed sister made some calls and looked into the possibility that we could send things directly from here for once, but nothing came of it. It couldn't be done.

There was no other option left but to go elsewhere for this service. The nearest 'elsewhere' was Chenzhou, about 2 hours away by bus. I had little option as to when. This weekend was the only convenient time. Anticipating language difficulties I asked our friends Seven and her visiting classmate if they fancied a day out to Chenzhou. They didn't. Seven's classmate wanted to do it another day, but I had classes all week, and classes that couldn't be moved due to all the exams going on right now. I didn't have anyone else here I could call on to help me out, but I couldn't postpone either. I decided that I'd just have to go and do it myself.

So Friday night I packed. I realised I would probably have to call someone once I got to the post office to translate for me, but I'd have to find it first, and then would the post office even be able to send all this stuff to England? Would it be open? In Lanshan the post office is always open, but the Lanshan post office is also the kind of place where Susan and I have been left behind the counter to look after things, being nosy around all the parcels while her sister popped out for a bit. Not sure Chenzhou is as easygoing. Getting on the bus the next morning I had visions of ending up in Guangzhou. I'd get this thing sent if it killed me, and I had half an idea that it would.

My worries were totally unfounded. I had one of my proudest moments in Chenzhou today.

Straight off the bus I got into a taxi told him in Chinese to go to the 'biggest post office'. The driver was a friendly chap and we soon got chatting. Great start. Any time I get to chat to someone in Chinese whose dialect I can actually understand is a bonus. I think in the past I have really underestimated just how strong Lanshan's dialect is. The more Chinese I have learnt, the more I have realised that I should be understanding at least some of what's going on round here. That's not been the case.

The most dramatic illustration of this came about a few weeks ago when Seven's classmate came to stay with her. She'd been working in better-off Zhejiang Province and when she first arrived spoke pure Putonghua (Standard Chinese). One day she was with me when some students came up to ask me a question. Their English wasn't so great so Seven's classmate helped them out by asking what it was they wanted. She asked in Putonghua and the students responded in the same manner. It was like someone flicked on a switch. Suddenly I understood. I answered before she translated into English. Why doesn't everyone else speak like this?! My God, I could have talked to people!! All I get when people come up to me is 'mmummennnullennunumunemumel-aaah!, fumenle-aaah!, subusa-aaah! bummennelllugggenememefumulen-aaaah!'. Quickfire consonants with an aaaahh! added at the end of every exclamation. An 'exclamation' is the best way of describing how people's sentences sound here. Everyone sounds so angry and indignant. And if it's not me who's scared off by the initial engagement, it's everyone else who's too scared to talk to me, the strange foreigner.

No such inhibitions in Chenzhou though and I felt free to chat away as much as I could. It was great. Victory number one...

Upon arrival at the post office I walked over to a big desk, dumped down my bag and produced my well-rehearsed lines. No problem. The lady didn't even look fazed. She spoke no English either but an understanding was there. The concept was simple, and we didn't let the language barrier get in between us and getting the task done. I made no phone calls for help. No fumbling in my phrasebook. It was all done and dusted within half an hour and for just 800 yuan too. About a third cheaper than I'd estimated, equivalent to about 50 quid. Bargain. Victory number two...

One of the cleaners there fancied himself for a bit of a joker and began asking me questions. They soon turned to my height 'hao gao' (very tall/big) and then to something else that was 'hao gao'. He mentioned 'bizi', which I know to mean 'nose' - the size of which is something the Chinese commonly call Caucasians on. But he kept on talking about it, making the girls across the counter giggle. He held his fingers a certain distance apart on the counter top and it was at this small gesture that I realised 'bizi' could also refer to some other part of the anatomy.

I know white people are often taller and have bigger noses than the Chinese and have gotten used to comments along those lines. Although I had reasonable supporting evidence as to another certain size difference between the races thanks to the exploits of Sarah and Jess in Liuyang I really didn't expect it to be brought up right there in the middle of the post office!! I didn't know quite what to say, which is much harder not to say in Chinese than English, but I was finished anyway so bid the little perv goodbye instead. Not really a victory there, but I'm sure that I needn't have worried...

Stepping outside the post office I followed my nose for a while and ended up right in front of the train station, a place I'd visited many a time in the last few months. Fantastic. I knew exactly where I was, exactly where I wanted to be and exactly how to get there. In no time I was chilling in a nicely air-conditioned KFC, ignoring my normal dislike for the brand and enjoying a burger and fries. Victory number three...

When finished I caught a bus across the road back to the bus station and had just ten minutes to wait for my bus back to Lanshan. I felt on top of the moon at all this independent success and had an ice-cream to celebrate. As I approached the counter four nervous faces looked back at me from the other side. They mumbled to each other about not knowing English and eventually one was pushed forward. He didn't catch what I said so the others came up for support. I repeated myself very matter-of-factly and one of the girls brushed the young lad aside to give me what I wanted. The young lad didn't say anything but kept staring down and another whispered 'ta keyi' (he's capable of...speaking, in this case). I smiled at them smugly and walked off to get my bus. Victory number four...

It sounds stupid, but this simple trip to the post office made my week. In a place as incomprehensibly foreign as rural China such simple things are not always as easy as you think. The fact that I couldn't send a parcel from my own town I think speaks volumes about the differences in day to day life here. In my regular, school-bound life chances like this to get out there, stand on your own two feet and do things your own way are few and far between. The experience was liberating. I'm ready for more.

Countdown

Well, the countdown is on. Less than two months until I touch back down in the UK. And only a week and a half now (maybe) until I leave Lanshan forever.

As the days have passed by and the end draws ever nearer everything has begun to feel stranger and stranger. There is no sense of everything and everyone building up towards this big celebratory end point. It's more like a business that's being wound up and closed down. Bit by bit the ones who can have drifted away and the remainder are going through the motions in a resigned, half-hearted manner knowing full well that nothing will come of their labours and that they're really just trying to pass the time now until they finally close the door behind them for that one last time.

That's kinda how I feel. It's not the nicest of feelings. I had more sense of purpose while working out my notice after quitting my last job but over the last few weeks here I have felt less and less invested in what I'm doing. With many classes teaching has always been an uphill struggle and recently it has become harder and harder to battle on. I'm tired. There are no more victories to be had now; no amazing leaps of progress to be made. With my worst class I have actually conceded defeat. After one class a week ago in which they refused to be quiet and listen or cooperate at all - even with the class teacher in the same room - I vowed never to teach them again. They have given me nothing. Absolutely nothing. Fortunately, with only three weeks left until the end of term it was the perfect time-frame in which to show a movie. The first week I showed it I was still so pissed off that the only words I said to them were 'ok, class over, goodbye' and that has been the recurring pattern this week too. I was worried that they may have seen it as a reward, but I think they know it's a punishment. The picture and sound quality in our media room is enough to make you think you are being punished no matter what you watch! They alone have been singled out for this treatment and I can't believe they are delusional enough to think it's because they have been good.

This slow winding down of things does not suit me. It's just full of uncertainty. We don't even know when we'll finish teaching yet. A countdown is no fun if you don't even know when you're counting to.

Last Friday was my final class with my Junior 3s. I found out a day or two before. The Junior 3s have always been a neglected year group. Only two classes make up the entire grade, and as a result of this they are big big classes. Just a sea of faces stretched out in front of me or, rather more often, a sea of the backs of people's heads as they are turned around talking or sleeping or doing homework or anything but pay attention to me. I taught them back to back, with no time to modify my lesson if something hadn't worked or to think of an alternative activity. I had one shot and had to make sure it worked. It rarely did. I had them on Friday afternoons, firstly class 167 immediately after lunch, when everyone was still sleepy and sluggish and then class 168 in the last period of the day, just before some precious extra free time. The worst periods possible. So understandably work was the last thing on their minds. At first, in each lesson, about 15 minutes before the end the calls of 'class over!' would begin. They soon learnt not to do that again as I would tally each call and make them stay over a corresponding number of minutes, but that was the kind of situation I was up against.

There were some students with a high level of ability, but mixed in with some really awful ones too. Conversation activities always relied on group participation, and if the group didn't participate, the good ones all too often ran out of people to talk to. It was a mess. A big unruly mess. My aim was always just to get through it and embrace the weekend. I did feel like I shortchanged the students sometimes but also no matter what I tried, I could not get the majority of activities to work well or to distribute my attention widely enough to help everyone come out of their shells and open their mouths. So it was not with any great regret that I said goodbye and good luck to them last Friday. We took some photos and as a result of this I got to chat to some of them a bit more than I had done before. It was just typical that we started having fun hanging out after I'd finished teaching them. Anyway, the photos here are some of the good kids. I'll miss them at least. But anyway, on with the countdown. Things have been a bit quiet this last week or so. Nothing really exciting has been going on but I've been making some big arrangements in the background. First has been a hell of a lot of preparation for starting uni in September. I've filled out health questionnaires, finding out I need another four new vaccinations at least before September, received an enhanced criminal records bureau check, completed my applications for loans and bursaries and have chosen where I shall be living for the coming year. I have ended up in the plushest of the plush that student accommodation can offer. I can remember seven years ago (seven...bloody hell...) in Bradford I shared four toilets and two showers with 24 other lads in leaky creaky Longside F Block paying about 40 quid a week. As of September I will be in a newly built complex sharing an apartment with just 3-5 other students, our own kitchen, lounge and dining area and individual study bedrooms with - wait for it - ensuite bathrooms. How times have changed... The prices have also changed too though. 93 pounds a week this will set me back, but the government will pay for most of that through bursaries and grants (gotta love funding for healthcare degrees) so what the hell!

I have also been busy planning my summer travels. Hopefully a couple of friends will join me for a few weeks and I had to give them some provisional dates so had a lot of research to do in a very short time. I once had this grand plan to visit every province in China, to say I had 'done' them all, but realistically, that just isn't going to be possible. Biggest casualties are Tibet and neighbouring Qinghai. These two provinces are just too out of the way and with recent clampdowns in Tibet travelling there has become a lot more restricted and expensive. I'd rather return and see them properly some other time. Likewise the north-east has fallen off the itinerary. There are some cool sights up there, like a place where you can jump across a stream to North Korea, forests growing almost underground within old volcanic craters, the far eastern end of the Great Wall and loads of Russian influenced food and architecture. Again, another time... Ningxia I would love to visit, but it's a lengthy detour, and Inner Mongolia frankly looks a bit boring.

Still, what I'm left with is a tour across the south-east, from Fujian up through Jiangxi, where 'China' is made and north into Anhui where the old villages where 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' was filmed can be toured, along with a quick stop at one of the most famous mountains in all of China. Next follows a route through historic Henan to Shandong, where Confucius lived and where the famous German style Tsingtao beer is produced. After some time on a beach I'll then hopefully end up in Beijing to meet my friends. Sights there and in nearby Tianjin and Hebei can be done in day trips. The idea after that is to go west, passing through Shanxi with it's well-preserved villages to Xi'an in Shaanxi, home of the Terracotta Warriors amongst many other amazing archaeological sites. From there we join the old Silk Road through Gansu into Xinjiang, a predominantly Muslim province crossed by deserts and bordered by immense mountain ranges. I'd like to get as far west as possible as that's where the culture difference is most vivid, but only time will tell if that'll be possible. Flying back to Beijing will save time but eat up funds, which I'll need for Shanghai and the pretty canal towns of Jiangsu and Zhejiang on my final leg, but some frugal living should see me through. That's the plan anyway.

I'm getting really excited about travelling, which may explain my reluctance to hang around here, but I'm also equally excited about getting home again. 1 year is a long time, and China really is someplace else. I'm looking forward to bread, to having my independence, to seeing friends and family, to not being a walking freak show, to remembering how to talk quickly again, to dogs you can pet and that aren't in front of you in spicy sauce, to heating and insulation, to not being in the 80s anymore, to being intelligent again, to sanitation, to good music, to paved roads, to deodorant available for purchase within seven hours drive, to decent conversation, to fewer permed men with scarily long fingernails, to fewer internal organs, to going swimming, to advance planning, to smaller spiders, to openness to change, ideas and opinions, to drinking less, to all those little things you always took for granted until you wind up somewhere where those little luxuries just aren't there...the list goes on. I can't wait.

I will likely post a list of things I'll miss at a later date, but I have a funny feeling that will end up a little shorter!!

Mosquitos

There is nothing more disgusting than splatting a mosquito, only to find that it is (was) full of blood. For then you start to wonder whether it was your own blood or someone else's inside that mosquito, and have to decide which one of those options is actually the better...

The Bridges of Sanjiang County

The second proper destination on my brief little holiday was the village of Chengyang, just 45 minutes away from Sanjiang by bus or minivan taxi and a much nicer place to spend time than Sanjiang itself, which is a pretty bog-standard small Chinese town. I liked it there actually, but I might as well have been in Lanshan again, just with better geography.

Still, Chengyang is where the action is at, mainly thanks to the amazing Dong Wind and Rain bridge crossing the river here that is apparently the finest example in existence. Again it was built without the use of nails, and took 12 years. It was a spectacular sight. The old ladies that mug you on the way across trying to sell you their tourist tat were not. I dropped my stuff in an otherwise empty hostel in the village and went out to get something to eat, bumping into a nice Israeli girl called Noa who seemed to be the only other visitor around. We ate lunch together then walked round the surrounding villages.
Coming from Zhaoxing, Chengyang was nothing really special. Yeah there were plenty of covered bridges and wooden houses, but as soon as you smiled at someone they pulled some mass-produced tourist shit out of their bag and came after you with it looking for a sale. The village is in the process of being modernised for tourists with new paths being laid and fences erected, which makes it all look a bit Disney. They're even putting up those ugly concrete buildings you see everywhere, just cladding them in freshly varnished pine to make them 'blend in', but they stick out like so many sore thumbs. I suppose it's our own fault. As travellers and tourists, in pursuit of the rare and unspoilt we eventually destroy what it is we keep coming to see.
I dunno. Chengyang just seemed less friendly overall and less interesting than Zhaoxing. I contemplated leaving again that same day even, but once I met and got on well with Noa I had more of a reason to hang around. Even better, later that evening another two Israeli lads, Noam and Zach, turned up and we all hung out together at their hostel having a good time playing cards, drinking tea and chatting. They somehow all thought I was Jewish for most of the night, and I was innocently wondering why I was getting so much stick for having poor Biblical knowledge, e.g. not knowing that Noa was the first feminist in the Bible, until they started talking about the cheese festival 'Shavuot' and I was like, 'what?'.

It's not all about cheese by the way.

So now I know how to count in Hebrew and apparently I'm quite good, although I keep saying 'nine' in Arabic instead. Don't ask me how that works...

I also saw my first wild snake here. It was bright green, about half a metre long and crossed my path right in front of me. Very cool.
Next morning, after a shower that was ironically too hot to stand under, we all left Chengyang. Noa went on to Zhaoxing with all our recommendations and Noam, Zach and I caught the bumpy bus back to Guilin and on to Yangshuo, there being absolutely no reason to spend a night in Guilin itself. Funnily enough we ended up in a hostel with about another half a dozen Israelis. They're everywhere! I did some shopping, ate a pizza, got a hair cut and massage and then we went to a bar. It was a nice evening. Then early the following day it was back to Guilin and home.

All in all, a great holiday. A bit rushed maybe, but it needed to be. Still well worth it. If I come back this way again I will certainly devote more time to Guizhou. Who knows, by then they may even have finished the roads...

The Last Piece in the Southwest China Jigsaw

I just arrived back from a little five day trip to fill in the last missing piece of my travels round the southwest of China. Guizhou province, a little visited place, had been out of my reach on previous trips around the southwest, but remained on my 'to do' list and, after a little research, had been elevated right up to the top. So, when an unexpected holiday turned up this week, I took the plunge and made the most of what little time I had to see a tiny bit of this amazing area.

The Senior 3 students had their university entrance exams this week, which are the most important of their lives. No cheating in this one, and all the other students are booted out of the school for the duration so the Senior 3s can have some peace and quiet to revise in. Unnecessary traffic and business is diverted away from the exam halls and health officials even come in to make sure the food they are given is nutritious enough in the last few days, when the students are even allowed seconds. It all sounds a bit 'too little, too late', but it gave me some time off, so I'm not complaining.
On Tuesday I set off on my journey. It was always going to be a little difficult to get where I wanted in such a short time, but with five days, I reckoned I could manage it. All that travel was exhausting though, as almost all of it seemed to involve the worst roads I have ever seen. What is it with me and bad roads? Everywhere I ever want to go seems to be at the end of a road that may, at some point in the future, actually exist and be worthy of the title 'road', but for now almost certainly does not exist and is best described as 'linear potholed mudbath'. First leg was Lanshan to Guilin, or it would have been, if for some reason the bus had actually been there. It wasn't. Instead I had a trip to Dao Xian, where I luckily met up with my friend Aaron for an hour before finally heading on to Guilin. This road had not improved since last time, although the five men had moved their tent and were now asleep alongside a different portion of the excuse-for-a-road. I was chatting to the bus conductor lad later on my way home (in Chinese! Get me!) and he told me it would not be finished for another two whole years yet. Unbelievable.

As soon as I arrived in Guilin I immediately caught another bus to Sanjiang in northern Guangxi. That was another long one. After two hours the road disappeared and we were rocking and rolling the rest of the way through the steep river valleys. As it got dark the moonlight lit up the flooded rice terraces like a carpet of shattered mirrors...which was nice and all that, but I was bloody starving by then so was absolutely ecstatic when we finally arrived.The next morning it was a 6am start and a cold shower but I was finally on my way to Zhaoxing, a small Dong minority village in Guizhou and my final destination. That bus ride counts as one of the most spectacular so far, if again along a very poor road. We wound around cliffsides bordering broad rivers where fishermen on bamboo rafts were fishing with Cormorants, bumped through tiny, wooden, tumbledown villages, and climbed high into the cloud lined, terraced mountains along roads excavated from steep hillsides extremely prone to landslides, several of which we passed over and through. The views were breathtaking, especially the last two hours, as we rode up the side of one deep valley, crossed the ridge and dropped down into the next, even more beautiful than before, at the bottom of which lay Zhaoxing.
China has around 55 different minority groups, and some information on the Dong minority who inhabit this area (and other minorities) is here. They traditionally wear dark blue or black clothing with the women gathering their long hair on top of their heads in a knot held by a comb. They're farmers in a wooded landscape and live in wooden houses, which are sometimes built on stilts against a hillside. All this was much in evidence in Zhaoxing, as the pictures above all show. There were five Drum towers like the one above and a couple of covered wooden bridges called Wind and Rain bridges. All these are built completely without nails. It was a cool little place to wander around, but is going a little bit Yangshuo. In other words, a bit tourist focussed. There are many English signs about the place advertising 'Dong Speciality Food' and 'Traditional Dong Gifts' along the main street, but on the whole it wasn't touristy in an oppressive, greedy way that some places have been, and was pretty laid back. I only had time to stay one night (in a wooden hostel, which smelt and looked great but was as noisy as all hell) so got to exploring straight away. After looking round Zhaoxing itself, which doesn't take long as it's so small, I started walking out along the road back up the way I'd arrived earlier to visit the small village of Tang'an. Along the way I bumped into a group of American students who were on a study tour and they kindly gave me a lift up to Tang'an.

This place was somewhere special. Untouched. Here life was continuing in much the same way as it probably has done for hundreds of years, just with the addition of satellite TV. Tucked up high in the mountains, I took dozens of photos of the place, and have just a few below for you to see.
It was amazing to wander around but even more amazing was the view down across the valley. This was what I'd seen from the bus but at last I had a chance to take some good pictures. They still don't do the view any justice though. Truly mesmerising. I walked down from Tang'an along the road back to Zhaoxing. It was a good walk and for the first time in a long time I could appreciate silence.Not half an hour after I got back into Zhaoxing the heavens opened, and didn't close again. It rained heavily all that night and was still raining in the morning. With another 6am start and my third cold shower in as many days, I ate a quick breakfast and went hunting for some flip-flops. In this weather, they're the only sensible things to have on your feet. I wasn't having much luck, as a lot of shops were still shut and I didn't know the word for 'flip-flop'. The closest I had come so far was from an old man who thought I wanted to buy the shoes off his feet when I stopped by one old Dong woman's shop and asked her where I might be able to buy some. She took pity on me, and even offered to help me out. She left her own shop and took me off to another woman's shop and, despite it still being shut, got the woman down to find me some decent footwear. I bought a great pair and went back to the old woman's shop to shelter from the rain until my bus arrived. She was really friendly and we soon started chatting while I looked over her hand-embroidered textiles. I bought one piece off her as a way to say thanks for the help and didn't bother haggling. That was a really nice experience, someone going out of their way especially to help you. You don't get that so often in life, and despite how I moan about some aspects of China sometimes, I have to say that it happens more often here than anywhere else I've lived. The friendliness and generosity of the Chinese is not to be downplayed.
I took a couple more pictures while I was waiting, as there was something atmospheric about the place in the early morning mist and rain, then got on my bus for a five hour trip back to Sanjiang. While the mist and cloud hanging in the hills served to make the views even more special, the additional water was doing nothing for the roads. We passed several new landslides that had definitely not been there the day before and as we passed others I could still see mud trickling down. Another exhausting trip, but once in Sanjiang I had just a 45 minute ride to my next port of call, Chengyang.

Rainbow

Junior English Corner had just finished this evening at 7pm, when, stepping outside the otherwise empty 6th floor room we have been allowed to make use of, we were greeted with a truly amazing sight. In front of us, stretched across the end of valley fully from one side to the other was a twin set of rainbows. One was clear and vibrant, the other slightly faint. As we walked down the stairs all the other students began to notice it and soon the entire school was stood along the balconies, shouting out 'haoguai!' (beautiful!) and generally making the most enormous racket. Sure it was beautiful, but did it really justify all this attention and excitement? I'd never seen the students so animated. I even passed Susan standing outside her classroom, on the phone, telling someone all about it with a big smile on her face.
Something seemed special, so I went home, got my camera, walked back into school, up the 6 flights of stairs, just in time to catch the fading remains. The pictures aren't great, but they show the countryside well as the air was clear and fresh after the previous storm. I took a few more of the sunset and storm clouds above the hills surrounding Lanshan, which show the nature of this place pretty well.
As I walked back down again I passed two of the Senior 3s that we eat with. They were still on the balcony staring at the sky. I told them that I'd just been taking pictures of the rainbow and they said they'd taken some pictures too. I commented on all the fuss made by the students earlier and joked that it was like they'd never seen one before. It was then that these two students let on that in fact, they hadn't. 19 years in Lanshan and this was the first rainbow they'd ever seen. Now that is special.