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A Trip to the Dong Village: Part Ⅰ
2013-01-11 | China travel Guide
The winding mountain road seemed to be endless. Sometimes it's so narrow that it's just alright for one car to get through. I had to hunk a lot whenever arriving at a sharp bend, in fear that people driving from the other direction might not see us coming. I dared not to see the beautiful views out of the windows, such as tea plantations, rice terraces and villages, all so appealing. Grasping the steering-wheel so tightly, my hands were wet. Including Ms. Zhao, there were five of us in the jeep, who are all supporting pillars of families with old and young. Could I afford to be careless, even for just a second?
In comparison with western cuisines which employ fresh material without cooking, Chinese cuisines pay more attention to the appetizing color, scent, flavor, shape and utensils. Apart from the food material, cooking ways are more important. For over 8000 years, Chinese chefs have experienced three significant leaps from boil to steam, and to fry, the common essence of which are all the regulate and control between water and fire. To accomplish all the conceptions in a dish, each Chinese chef is a magician who can play the game with water and fire supremely well. Up to now, Chinese is the only nation in the world who masters the skills of both steam and fry.
Not long ago in early March, I went to Wenshi Town of Guangyang County (a eastern county of Guilin) with my friends. Wenshi Town is famous with Stone Forest and Yueling Village, which I have always wanted to visit but never had a chance. Before the Spring Festival this year, I had made an appointment with several friends to visit there, but cancelled finally due to the bad weather. This time, I have got my wish finally!
The rain kept drizzling down and our hiking was on the march. It took two and half an hour to hike from the Wumaling Ancient Path to Xiong Village. We left Lower Wuma Village at 11:00 and our lunch was arranged on a ground at the ancient path at noon. As you can see in the picture, our meal was more like a simple picnic, but my fellows were with great relish and still immersed in the excitement for the following challenge in physical strength. After one hours time of lunch and rest, we restarted the rest of the scheduled hiking, which was apparently harder to go on. On the way we were discussing how caravans of the old time overcame this challenge.
The bothersome freezing winter in Guilin passed finally and here is now the season of spring rains. In spite of the unpleasant weather, the weekend trip of our team still went on schedule at Saturday last week. A 40 minutes drive by bus in the morning brought from the square of Guilin International Conference and Exhibition Center to the gate of Guilin University of Electronic Technology (GUET), from which our hiking to countryside of Lingchuan County normally started. Our scheduled hiking route is: Xi'an Village (西岸村) Dong'an Village (东岸村) upper Wuma Village (上午马村) lower Wuma Village (下五马村) Wumaling Ancient Path Nanji Village Xiong Village back to Guilin by bus.
There is a popular saying goes: there is a paradise above, so are there Hangzhou and Suzhou below. In the 13th century, Marco Polo came to Hangzhou and declared it to be the finest, most splendid city in the worldwhere so many pleasures may be found that one fancies oneself to be in the paradise. Hangzhou is a city with beautiful scenery and friendly people, I have been there at last week for my business trip with my clients who came from Canada and USA, thanks for this chance for letting me feel the real paradise on the earth.
Last weekend, VisitOurChinas team gathered to spend an amazing day strolling about Guilin vicinity to the village of MaoJia Cun (毛家村) where lies a hidden lotus pond and a gorgeous preserved nature. Regarding this wonderful day we had there all together, we cannot help but sharing it with you because we are also your friends in China and that is so much fun!
Invited by Tourism Bureau of Tong Dong Minority Autonomous County, Hunan Province, with great honour VisitOurChina had a chance to attend the county's official starting ceremony of Wanfoshan Mountain Dong Village Tour. During our 2 days in Tongdao (April 26th and 27th, exactly, the tour was arranged on 27th), we have made a site investigation on the scenic spots, which deeply impress on us.
