China 2/12/2018 - 2/21/2018

Monday, February 19, 2018 - Bada Rice Terraces, Return to Jianshui

We had a #LostInTranslation moment this morning. We went to breakfast, and I made us each a cup of coffee. I looked around for sugar on the buffet where the coffee pot was, but found none. When I got back to our table, I saw a small caddy which contained a salt shaker, a container of toothpicks, and a sugar bowl. I put some into our coffee. A minute later, Craig took a sip...only it wasn't sugar. It was MSG! It took him all day to get the extreme flavor out of his mouth, even after his hot spicy noodle bowl and an Altoid chaser! Only after that did we notice that there was a container of sugar packets on the other side of the table. I quickly made us each a new cup of coffee.

After breakfast, we headed off on an excursion to view more Hani rice terraces. We stopped at Duoyishu, where we got a beautiful view of morning fog hanging above the village of Qingkou in the valley. Ziting is so comfortable with us now, and happily allowed us to pick her up for photos.

Next we drove to the Bada rice terraces. It was difficult to find parking, so Wang Jun and Xiao Yi dropped us off at the roadside viewing platform with Ziting and other family members while they found a place to park. This was the first time that Ziting was with us without a parent present, and we wondered how she would react. We needn't have worried; she behaved perfectly. At all times she was either holding my hand or following close behind me. She was happy and patient, chatting away to us.

Xiao Yi returned, and we took some photos of the amazing rice terraces. They looked like abstract art.

We walked to the visitors' center, where there were souvenir shops, food stalls, and rest rooms. Xiao Yi once again left Ziting in our care. She was quite patient as we waited for Wang Jun to arrive for 15 to 20 minutes. She held my hand and sang to herself, chatting with us in Chinese. We got many interested looks from Chinese tourists, whom I can only guess assumed that she was our adopted daughter.

Apparently there was a trail down into the valley where you could visit an ethnic Hani village. The plan had been to go there. But the place was mobbed with people. One of our group had scouted it out, and it apparently entailed a long walk in the brutally strong sun. Even if we had gone, the schedule wouldn't have allowed us to stay long. We still had to drive back to Jianshui today!

Wang Jun met us and said that we would skip the village visit. Everyone just wanted to get out of the crowds and traffic. It was fine with us. We walked along the side of the road to the nearby restaurant where they had parked. The traffic was dangerous, so I carried Ziting.

As we retraced our route back toward the hotel, we noticed a Discovery Channel vehicle near Duoyishu and couldn't help but wonder if they were doing some kind of program on the chaos of the rice terraces during the Spring Festival.

We left Yuanyang around noon, descending into the valley, past the Nansha dam. We listened to music for a while in the car. Wang Jun played the Carpenters' version of "Jambalaya." He said that it is a popular song in China because the word jambalaya is a transliteration of the Chinese words for "pretty good." It was an interesting mix of songs, including a dance mix of the Cranberries' "Zombie," a version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" performed by Pentatonix, "The Last Waltz," and a Chinese performance of "Do Re Mi."

It was only after returning home and looking at a map that we discovered how close we had been to the Vietnamese border, and the areas of northern Vietnam which we had visited in 2013. In fact, Bada Rice Terraces are only 86 miles from Sa Pa. No wonder the karst landscape and rice terraces looked so familiar!

We stopped for a quick lunch at around 1:30. In the valley, it was 34 degrees C (93 F), the hottest temperature we had seen yet.

We wound back through the mountains, arriving in Jianshui at around 4:30 p.m. The ride didn't seem quite so harrowing today, as the route was now familiar and we knew how far we had to go.

We hadn't known that we would be staying in Jianshui again tonight, and I was delighted that we were staying in the same hotel. I had lost my fleece somewhere along the way, and I knew that I had it when we arrived in Jianshui but not when we departed. It wasn't an expensive coat, but it was the only warm layer I had brought, and we would soon be returning to Giuyang and Boston, which would be significantly colder than Yunnan. Maybe I had left it in the room and could recover it for the remainder of the trip.

There was a wedding at the hotel, which meant that once again the parking lot was crowded. The bride and groom were standing in front of the lobby greeting guests, but unfortunately the bride was lost in her cell phone most of the time.

We checked back into the hotel and inquired about my fleece. They checked with the housekeeping managers, and unfortunately, it had not been found. It wasn't a big deal, but it was at least worth checking! I must have left it at the restaurant the last time we were here. It had been so hot in there that I probably left it on the back of my chair and that was that.

We ate dinner early tonight. It would be a long drive back to Guiyang tomorrow. Xiaohong estimated it would be 8-10 hours of driving. Craig thought it would be more; we wouldn't be the only ones heading back to the city at the end of the holiday!

We took a taxi to the restaurant with Wang Jun, Xiao Yi, and Ziting. Ziting was wearing Xiao Yi's coat, and of course the sleeves were much too long for her. Xiao Yi tied the sleeves together, giving kind of a straightjacket look. Ziting was still able to strike an adorable pose when I got out the camera. Her photogenic quality reminds me of Sonam Tshering's niece Bumchu in Bhutan.

At dinner, Ziting sat next to me and we had a lot of fun. We had a wonderful dinner with many toasts of buckwheat liquor. 2-year-old Dou Zai walked over to my chair and toasted me ("Ganbei") with his glass of water. So cute!

Toward the end of the dinner, Ziting grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the table, saying something in Chinese. Xiao Yi laughed and said "She says let's go back to the hotel, she wants you to take her to KFC." It was so cute! Apparently she loves KFC fries (potato wedges) with ketchup.

She mentioned it several more times as the party was breaking up, so we made a plan to stop on the walk back to the hotel. We had a lot of fun on the walk, as people who were eating at various sidewalk food stalls would do a double take when they saw me holding hands with Ziting, and then Craig followed it up with a friendly "Nihao." We are still the only westerners we have seen since leaving the Beijing airport.

We got to the KFC across the intersection from our hotel and the West Gate. Ziting got more and more excited as we approached the restaurant. On the sidewaklk, she broke away from me and Xiao Yi and ran toward KFC, dancing and waving her arms.




As we walked into the restaurant, she flashed peace signs with both hands, struck a pose, and said excitedly, "Yeeahhh!"

Gan Ma and Gan Die (godmother and godfather) bought our little Ziting/Joy some fries. I practically had to hip check Wang Jun away from the cash register in order for him to allow us to pay the bill. Xiao Yi and Craig got ice cream cones, but I was too stuffed from dinner.

Ziting was so excited and appreciative. She clutched the packet of fries to her and walked patiently back to the hotel without so much as stealing one bite until she got back to the room, even and Craig and Xaio Yi ate their ice cream cones. The self-restraint of this 3-year-old defies logic!

We said our goodnights and went to sleep. By now I was starting to suffer from a cold, and was starting to lose my voice. My throat was sore and I took some Nyquil to make sure I got a good night's sleep.

Ziting brings her fries back to the hotel

Ziting brings her fries back to the hotel





Bada Rice Terraces
Gan Ma, Ziting, and Gan Die at Duoyishu rice terraces

Gan Ma, Ziting, and Gan Die at Duoyishu rice terraces

Bada Rice Terraces

Bada Rice Terraces

Bada Rice Terraces

Bada Rice Terraces

Gan Die, Xiao Yi, Ziting, and Gan Ma at Bada Rice Terraces

Gan Die, Xiao Yi, Ziting, and Gan Ma at Bada Rice Terraces

Ziting and Gan Die at lunch

Ziting and Gan Die at lunch

Ziting on the way to dinner      Ziting and Gan Ma having fun at dinner

Ziting on the way to dinner        Ziting and Gan Ma having fun at dinner

Ganbei: Craig, Wang Jun, Yin Jihong, Liang Bo, Yuan Huizong, Liu Yan, Xiaohong, Bao Hong, Liu Xinyan, Xiao Yi

Ganbei: Craig, Wang Jun, Yin Jihong, Liang Bo, Yuan Huizong, Liu Yan, Xiaohong, Bao Hong, Liu Xinyan, Xiao Yi

West Gate, Jianshui

West Gate, Jianshui

See all photos from February 19, 2018



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