Sunday 10/26/14 - Dragon's Backbone Longji Rice Terraces

We woke up at 6:30 a.m. We decided not to shower again today. The toilet had leaked a bit and the bathroom was kind of rustic. That meant two days in a row with no shower, and we would be hiking today. But Wang Jun assured us that we would be in a more comfortable hotel tonight, so we decided to wait until we got there to shower.

We went downstairs to breakfast at 7:50. We had toast and jelly, scrambled eggs, a banana, and coffee. The only Brit who was out and about at this hour was Bridget, a charming lady who joined us and with whom we shared a nice conversation. She said that Nigel had been on the 5th floor, and that he had to be helped upstairs, and that he had indeed fallen down in his room. Wow, so that was 2 floors above us? It sounded like it was directly overhead! Wang Jun told us that the propietor was thrilled that he had sold 50 rice wine shots to the British group last night. All things considered, it was not surprising that they were late to rise.

We checked out at 8:30, just as the majority of the Brits were showing up for breakfast. We were driving to Longfeng. We passed a land slide aea. Wang Jun told us that tourists had been stuck in Longfeng for 20 days last month as the result of a landslide! We were stopped for an hour and a half in construction traffic. But we had a very nice chat with Wang Jun, which made the time fly by.

When we were back driving again, Wang Jun pointed out "odd shaped stones" displayed on the sides of the road, These are stones which are collected from the rivers (we saw some boats doing this). People from all over China come to this area to buy them.

We stopped at a gas station to use the rest room, and Wang Jun bought us some yummy puffed rice squares as a snack. We arrived at the entrance gate to the Longji Rice Terraces (Dragon's Backbone) in Longsheng shortly before noon. Wang Jun bought our entrance tickets, and we drove in. Wang Jun explained that the ethnic minorities in this area are Zhuang and the Long-haired Yao.

We stopped for lunch at noon at a small restaurant. Several Long-haired Yao women came in and tried to sell us things. If there's one thing I have little patience for, it is being solicited to while I am trying to eat at a restaurant.

We had two kinds of rice cooked in bamboo stalks, egg and tomato, cucumber, tofu and bacon with green bell peppers, and potatoes. A young man working at the restaurant was wearing a T-shirt which said "Victim of the Modern Age". Craig loved this.

Mr. Zhou washed the van while we ate. He is always taking such good care of the van. He is the ultimate professional, but is friendly with a good sense of humor as well. We finished eating at around 1 o'clock. We drove half an hour to the parking lot where we would leave the van.

Wang Jun had told us that this would be our hardest day yet...climbing a mountain to see the famous Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces. The hotel is partway up the mountain, inaccessible to vehicles, and he said that it was a steep climb. In the past, weather and visibility had been so poor that Wang Jun's tourists had climbed all the way up only to be disappointed because they couldn't see two feet in front of them. We were a bit apprehensive about the climb. The sun which would make our visibility perfect, also made it quite warm. We made sure that we had plenty of water with us. Wang Jun suggested that we pack an overnight bag and leave the rest of the stuff in the car. So we reorganized our luggage. Wang Jun asked if we wanted to hire a porter to carry the bag. Having no idea what we were up against, and not wanting to take chances in the heat, we reluctantly hired a porter. We just carried light daypacks containing water and valuables.

Wang Jun said that if Craig was having trouble with his legs, he could hire porters to carry him up in a sedan (palinquin) for 180 yuan ($30). We wanted to avoid this if at all possible...it seemed way too entitled to pay local people to carry you up. But it was a bit comforting to know that if we ran into trouble, this alternative existed.

As we walked from the parking lot, we passed some shops selling small versions of the "odd shaped stones" of the area. They were spherical and blood red. Of course, you don't want to buy rocks on your way UP the mountain, so we made a mental note to buy one tomorrow, on our way back dowm.

We started hiking at 1:35. We were pleasantly surprised by the trail. We were expecting to have to slog up steep rice terraces similar to what we had done in Vietnam. But there were actually stone stairs that went the entire way up to the summit. It was steep at times, and the sun was warm, but there was shade from various hotels, shops, and restaurants which lined the paths.

By the time we took our first water break, Wang Jun told us that we were almost there. Only 35 minutes after starting the hike, we arrived at the Star Wish Hotel. We couldn't believe it! The hike hadn't been bad at all. Now true, we would still have to climb further to view the rice terraces, but we were confident that this was certainly doable for us. In fact, we felt like the porter had been entirely unnecessary. Wang Jun had prepared us for the worst, so the fact that we handled it well was a pleasant surprise.

We checked into the hotel. We were in room 305. The hotel was very beautiful and "fancy"! The room had dark wooden scrollwork. Two comfortable mattresses with thick white comforters sat on a wooden platform. There was a small balcony as well. We were a bit sweaty from the hot sun, so we rested and cooled down a bit in the air-conditioned room until 2:45, when we met Wang Jun to commence our journey to the top of the mountain. The stairway continued, and there were various lookout points not far at all from the hotel, where you could look down and see the gorgeous terracing. The weather was nearly perfect for viewing. It was hazy in the distance, but we had a nice, sunny view of the terraces.

We took photos along the way, and arrived at the top at 3:10. The view was spectacular. The terraces were built during the Ming Dynasty over 400 years ago. They snaked and arc'ed gracefully across the countryside. This is the dry season, so there was no water in the paddies. The terraces themselves were somewhat green, but mostly gold. It resembled the undulatiion of its namesake dragon's backbone.

Wang Jun was so relieved that the weather and visibility were favorable. He headed back to the hotel to use the wifi to do some work, and left us at the summit to enjoy. We took a lot of photos, bought some fancy ice cream treats (our first introduction to Magnum), and enjoyed the beautiful views. There were three Chinese flags flying above us, and beautiful, vibrant flowers framing our view. We saw an orange butterfly alighting on similarly orange marigolds. It was absolutely beautiful up here.

A Chinese grandmother greeted us and wanted a photo of us with three generations: herself, her daughter and husband, and their daughter. They were very sweet, and we chatted with them as best we were able.

There were some shops at the summit and we bought a few souvenirs and some postcards. We walked back down toward the hotel. The same Chinese family had stopped at a little shop where you can dress up in Miao traditional clothing and have your photos taken with the rice terraces in the background. The grandmother and her daughter were dressing up, and they looked beautiful.

We stopped to get some photos of them, as the sun sank low in the sky. They gestured for me to join them. It seemed like fun, and the outfits were beautiful, so I dressed up in a long full red skirt and matching blouse, with a silver headdress and necklace. Unfortunately, by the time I was dressed, the best light of the sunset had faded, but that was fine.

They positioned me on a platform overlooking the rice terraces and directed me into various poses. I felt like a model. Toward the end I indicated that I wanted to be photographed with my new friends. The three of us posed together with our skirts outstretched, and then they posed me with the daughter, smiling and framing our faces with our hands. They gestured for us to tilt our heads toward one another, but our headdresses became entangled, and we both laughed.

After the photo shoot, the photographers downloaded the photos to their computer. They showed us the shots and we chose which ones we wanted them to print and laminate for us. The fee for renting the clothes was 10 yuan, and each photo print was 10 yuan (around $1.50). I chose 4 photos - one of me with my two friends, one of me posing smiling with the daughter, one of me with a basket of flowers on my back, and one of me with my skirt encircling me. The daughter looked at my printouts and loved the ones of us together. "Very be-auti-ful!" she pronounced carefully. She purchased the same ones herself. It is funny to think that both we and a Chinese family have vacation photos of one another.

We had so much fun! We thanked the family for inviting us to join in on the experience. The clothing was from the Miao minority, who are not actually from this area. This kind of inauthenticity is a pet peeve of Wang Jun's, but we just viewed it as a fun tourist activity and a chance to connect with the Chinese family. We continued the walk down to the hotel. We met another family who wanted their photo taken with us, so we happily obliged.

When we arrived at the hotel, we rested for a while before dinner. I had forgotten my phone in the van, and we usually text Steve each night. But this hotel had free secured wi-fi, so I connected my Surface. We were able to send some e-mails to friends and family, which was nice. We took long-awaited showers in the modern bathroom. The water temperature and pressure were better than we had experienced in a while, so we really enjoyed our showers. It was worth the wait!

We went downstairs to dinner at 7 o'clock. We were seated in a private room which was decorated with photos of the rice terraces. We had kung pao chicken, beef with onions and green peppers, egg drop soup, and black pearl rice balls filled with a mixture of black sesame powder, sunflower seed powder, peanut powder and sugar which were floating in some sort of liquor. Though the looked kind of slimy and unappetizing, they were actually quite delicious. Craig had two Linquan Nature Beers and I had a JDB. We ate every last bit of food. The hotel's resident cat, Mammy Anne, came in to visit us.

We came back to the room at 8:15. We sent some more e-mails, wrote in the journal, and went to bed at 11 o'clock.




Longji Rice Terraces
Iconic Ma'an wind and rain bridge

Iconic Ma'an wind and rain bridge

Hiking to our hotel

Hiking to our hotel

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces

Steph in traditional Miao clothing

Steph in traditional Miao clothing

Steph and friends in traditional Miao clothing

Steph and friends in traditional Miao clothing



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