Luodai Ancient Town

The ancient street area of Luodai is a very neat place to hang out though it is quite touristy. There are several stores where you can play dress up in almost any kind of clothes.



What these guys are acting out, I can't even imagine.



A woman stretching out silkworm cocoons:



There are water channels along either side of the street, very handy for rinsing one's feet.



Since it is the evening, most of the people on the street are locals.



We didn't have time to visit all the old buildings, but this is the Guangdong Meeting Hall. These chairs are a distinct style. We ran into a Hakka girl who was guiding us around for free and she said they keep this kind of chair for guests.



There is a definite sense of distinct identity for the Hakka people in Luodai - our guide explained that Hakka (客家, 'guest people')just means people with no homeland of their own. They speak the Hakka language (客家话, though our guide called it Cantonese) and also Sichuanese.

The Wall at Luodai

We went out to Luodai, a nearby town whose residents are 90% Hakka. One of the main attractions there is a replica of the Great Wall. You can see the grey camo over the red bricks, which are made locally. This wall is about eight years old but looks a lot like the original.

We tried to save money by busing it (a total of 5 kuai for the three buses we needed to take) but it took over two hours to get there and so we were climbing the wall in the hottest part of the day. There ain't much shade there and the sun was killing us - near the top I was taking twenty steps, then lying down, then taking twenty more. They did have periodic shady spots where you could buy water and incense for the temple at the top.



Gate to Jinlong Temple at the top:



The teahouse at the top was breezy and very refreshing after the climb.



Even though it was built strictly as an attraction I enjoyed this wall better than i would have liked the real one. We had close up views of rural life on either side.



We asked at the top for an alternate route and they directed us to the old way down the mountain - a trail through the forest of mostly rock stairs. (I wish we had ascended this way.) There were birds, enormous butterflies, and what sounded like cicadas chirping constantly. We passed some abandoned farm houses and a huge cistern.



Somehow, people used those steps on the side to climb down and get water.

Hot

The weather has been startlingly clear and hot for the past week or so - last night after soccer I went with friends to eat barbecue and we were shocked at being able to see the moon - I'd almost forgotten what it looked like. Blue skies almost every day and bright, bright sun - we are almost wishing for a nice layer of pollution to give us some relief. We do get a good rain regularly too though.

A friend starred in a TV commercial (they needed a foreign face) and got paid in spa treatment gift certificates. She gave me a gift card for a very $$$ back and face treatment, and the back treatment unexpectedly included scraping and cupping. Didn't hurt but I had the telltale scraping tracks on my back for a couple of days. (The bruising results from breaking the surface blood vessels, which is believed to release toxins.) My massage guy has been trying to convince me to get cupping done, but when I ask why all he says is that it releases moisture.

Many friends are leaving for the summer - the city empties of foreigners this time of year. I am done with all classes for a while, but into the next cycle of looking for work.