China - Guangdong to Hunan

October 2013

Guangzhou to Kaili

On October 23 I joined my friend Mary-Anna for 10 days of traveling with her dear friends Sylvie & Scott and 4 others.  Sylvie was guiding her friends to many of her favorite places from Shanghai-Shanghia Province to Kaili-Hunan Province.  When I arrived in Guangzhou-Guangdong Province, the final 10 days of their 4 week journey, we became a group of eight (2 Chinese, 3 French, 3 American).

We followed many 2 lane roads hugging deeper gorges as we traveled deeper into Hunan.  Rice paddies decorated the steep hillsides and occasional towns.  Every once in awhile the road opened onto huge freeways being constructed to link yet-to-be-built cities.

Li River

We arrived early to catch the sunrise.  

Karst mountains, hazy sky, and our solitary boats made the ride down the Li River mystical & magical.

Mary-Anna and I added our own Karsts to the view.

It was cold at sunrise!
 
I wore a baseball cap everyday  & everywhere since I had an extremely short cut to prepare for the Peace Corps (abandoning the brown for natural gray). Hope to grow my curls back!




 

 

Pintang, Dong Village 

Traditional welcoming song for old friends Sylvie & Yangkang who had visited the village many times in the past. The village greeted us with warmth & enthusiasm.  In hopes of bringing more tourists to their village they built guest lodging in their community center; we were their first guests!



We were honored with a special invitation to dinner in the mayor's home. The toasts & singing followed an amazing meal.  Sylvie, our friend and guide, took this video.





Pintang is a small, communal village. Little parks & gathering areas are scattered throughout.

The village honored us with a special performance - showcasing their traditional polyphonic singing & dances that were accompanied by traditional flutes & stringed instruments. After the performance they treated the 8 of us to a 300 dish feast, more toasts & singing!

Polyphony: two or more performers sing independent and simultaneous lines of melody.

Cross-cultural exchange...
starting with an exchange of head gear!