The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
May 10 - Gettin' Rural
The battle of Yangshuo is fought every afternoon when the tour boats arrive. There are winners and there are losers, but the epic struggle goes on -- a battle of wills between vendors who are hawking items you don't need and those for whom a bargain is irresistible ... even it if isn't something something you want. When you hear someone say, "Do you know how much you would pay for something like this in the States?" it's all over but the accounting ... and the dance continues.
I tire quickly of the contstant solicitations so we were more than ready to pack up and find a quieter spot. We had seen photos of an ancient stone village and thought it was Xing Ping. After our excursion to this hallowed ground, I don't think it was the place in the picture ... but we found some interesting spots anyway. After three weeks of cities, I liked the small town scale.
Xing Ping is also a river town and since the boat trip down the Li is non-stop, one of the optional add-on trips that tour companies sell is a $40 per person boat ride up the Li and down a tributary to Xing Ping. We came over in a private van for about $9 each. As is fast becoming my custom, I will let the photos tell most of the story ...
It's hard to tell how much of this is old and how much reflects minimal maintenance, but there was a feeling of old-time tradition to it ... even if that tradition was first established in 1969! Still, life has gone on here for a long time and although that life is very different from ours, it is the only life they know so think nothing of it. I can't help thing that television is the biggest enemy yet devised of personal contentment and local traditions.
In the end, of course, a culture is not the architecture but the people. Here are a few slices of daily life in Xing Ping that we were privileged to observe. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, these people's willingness to live their lives in plain sight gave us an important glimpse into both them and their culture. If you want to send your health inspector into cardiac arrest, share the last shot in this series -- an operating kitchen in a public restaurant. The shot was easy to get because there is no outside wall -- the kitchen is completely open to the main street. Bon Appetite!
© 2008 Restaurant Doctor
[