May Day Holiday 1 - Huangshan and Hong Village

This is a 500 year old Ginko tree in the Hong Village.  When an elderly person would die, his coffin would be taken to circle the tree five times.  This would mean longevity, blessing and prosperity to his posterity.

We had to meet the taxi by 5 a.m., so we could meet with Eva, her husband, Pang, and the rest of our tour group.  Our taxi driver was a little late, and then he didn’t know exactly where to drop us off at.  Pang got the driver to a place where he could let us off and walk us to meet the rest of our group.  This was headed to be an interesting experience, because we were going with an all Chinese group.  Eva being the one who would be our interpreter. 

On the high-speed train to Huangshan, Eva was seated next to a ten-year old girl whose English name is Katie.  Katie and her mother were curious about David and me, so David suggested that he change seats with Eva, so he could talk with Katie.  Katie knows some English, and this gave her some good practice.  Her mother also knows some English. 

 

David sitting next to Katie and her mom on the train.

After a while, I traded seats with David and talked a little with Katie, but I think she was getting restless after just sitting on the train for two hours, so I traded spots back with Eva and Katie got up and wandered our train car.  

We were a curiosity for many people, especially the children.  Several more young kids, ranging in ages from nine to twelve would come by us.  At first there were stares.  Then they might try a “Hello.”  If I caught their eye first, I would say, “Hello,” and that was the opening of the door for them to say a few of the phrases they had memorized and try to talk with us.  It was fun for us, and I think fun for them also.

We arrived on time five hours later where we were met by a new guide and got on the bus.  On a Chinese tour bus, the seats that you first sit in will be your seats for the rest of the tour.  Eva ran ahead of all of us and saved us some seats next to each other, so that it would be easy for her to translate important information from the guide.  

On the bus, we went to a Hui village that was about an hour ride up into the mountains. The village had originally been built high up in the mountains, but after a fire destroyed it, they decided to build a new village lower on the mountain on a lake.  The village was planned in the shape of a cow around the lake.  A special guide took us all through the village, showing us different homes and buildings.  It was rather crowded in most of the rooms and hard to get around.  Several times, I wasn’t able to get my foot set the way I needed it, and I ended up hurting my knee.  I was rather tired by the time the hour- long tour was over, so I sat under a tree until it was time to go.  Once again, we were the object of curiosity and had lots of children and adults trying to talk to us.

 

This bridge divides the lake in half.  You have to cross over it to get to the old part.

The roof style of the Hong Village is rather unique.  The high sides are supposed to help protect the rest of the house from fire.

The lake was so beautiful.

Some of the old buildings inside the tourist area.

Eva, Zina, David, and Pang by the lake.

After the trip to the village, they took us to a restaurant that caters to the tours and had dinner.  After dinner we went to the hotel and checked in.  Had to get to bed early, because we would be up early for the next day’s tour.

Doorway to the old village.  This whole village was planned out by woman leader of the village.

This is a rain hole that some of the houses had.  They said that rain meant money, so they wanted to keep some of the rain in the house, so that the house would have prosperity.  It is a symbol of the value of rain.  There is also a drain in the pool below so that it doesn't over flow to the floor.

The symbol of the fish means prosperity also.  This is the window in the accountant's room in the home of the richest man in the village.  

The rock carving at the top has the meaning of blessing you so that you will have nine generations of family.  Family is important and so you want a large one.

This is the school room of the village.  They had an area where the parents or grandparents could wait for the children to take them home when they were finished.

This was the stone carving over the doorway to the richest man's house in the village.

This is a sign that was above the toilet in the restroom.  I couldn't quite figure out what they meant...