February 9, 2008
Jinghong: Countryside
Hack, hack, hack - I coughed half the night but feel surprisingly good in the morning and ready for an outing to Gasa, a small village south of Jinghong. On the way we should pass through some villages of the Dai people.
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The Dai people are a Buddhist minority originally from northern China who were driven south by the Mongolian invaders in the 13th century. Today the region of Xishuangbanna is still 1/3 Dai, signs are written in both Chinese characters and the Dai script, women wear traditional long skirts and in the villages you can see houses in Dai architecture, large wooden-roofed structures on stilts.
We have hardly left the city limits of Jinghong when we are between rice fields, corn fields, and except for the modern developments of apartment buildings which are still visible, we find ourselves in a very rural setting. After a few kilometers we leave the asphalt and continue on an unpaved, bumpy dirt road which swings around the airport. We have beautiful weather again today and it's a pleasure to cruise past Dai houses, water buffalo, rice paddies and people busy in the fields.
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2 years ago
On our way back we stop for a late lunch. The usual procedure is that I'm shown into the kitchen and should point to the things we would like to eat. I am managing a few sentences in Chinese now, but rarely understand what anyone says. I point and say we would like this, this, this. Then the cook says something and I respond with 'hao, hao', yes, good, because to say I don't understand isn't going to get us anywhere. I never know what we will get, but we are enjoying the surprises. Today one of our dishes was a pineapple filled with delicious sticky rice cooked with chunks of pineapple, raisins and peanuts.
We took another walk through Peacock Lake Park when I heard the clashing of cymbals building up suspension for a performance. Some children were doing some amazing acrobatic stunts.
And to finish the day a walk in the market.
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