After making the trek through the fields to the tomb of the father of our host, Old Nong (老農), the elderly villager of the previous post sits back and watches the proceedings.
Apr
27
2010
27
2010
Photo: Polishing the Tombstone
An elderly villager of Danong (大農村) wipes off the tombstone of an ancestor's grave on the Zhuang Tomb Sweeping day on the third day of March on the lunar calendar (農歷三月初三). For most in the countryside there is no such thing as a "graveyard." The tombs are scattered throughout the fields in any un-planted spot available, and many are marked only by a pile of stones.
Apr
26
2010
26
2010
Jours 197~199: Repos à Nanning, chef-lieu du Guangxi
Jour 197 (07/04/10)
Nameng(那蒙)-Nanning(南宁)
Province autonome Zhuang du Guangxi(广西壮族自治区)
- 90km -
Levés tôt, nous prenons un petit déj léger, car Andy pense peut-être le fait d’ingurgiter trop de bouffe le matin avant de prendre la route purrait être à l’origine de ses problèmes de santé. Il est donc préférable de faire un deuxième arrêt snack au milieu de la matinée, ce que nous faisons.
Un clodo regarde ce qui traîne dans les ordures...
Nameng, au petit matin.
Apr
26
2010
26
2010
Photo: Solemn for Some
For the Nong (農) family children, the Zhuang (壯族) Tomb Sweeping Day (三月初三) seemed to be a celebration -- a reason to be out of school and romping through the fields with brothers, sisters and cousins. For the next generation, the day seemed to be more of an obligation -- a thing to be done because that's the way it's always been done, even though some admitted they didn't understand all the proceedings. But whether due to a greater attachment to tradition or the realization that before long their families might be burning money for their own use in the afterlife, the elderly generation took a much more reverent approach to the traditional holiday on which the living care for the dead.
Apr
26
2010
26
2010
Jours 194~196: Départ de Zhanjiang et premiers jours au Guangxi
Jour 194 (04/04/10)
Zhanjiang(湛江)-Hengshan(横山)
Province du Guangdong(广东省)
- 54km -
Cela fait une semaine qu’Andy et moi sommes à Zhanjiang pendant qu’Evan est parti faire son passeport, et
ce n’est qu’au milieu de la nuit qu’il revient après des heures de voyage en car, sans avoir pu dormir. Il est bien évidemment crevé et se repose donc dans la chambre.
Ce n’est qu’en fin de matinée que nous quittons lentement la ville de Zhanjiang. Un rythme ralenti qui n’est pas pour me déplaire, car après mes 300km effectués ces deux derniers jours, j’ai les jambes bien courbaturées!
Alors que je re-pense quasi-constamment à l’explosion de ma chambre à air hier soir, c’est Evan qui crève au bout d’à peine 10km. Le score des crevaisons évolue assez vite ces jours-ci: 5 pour Evan, 4 pour moi et 1 pour Andy.
Voilà ce qui est entré dans le pneu d'Evan!!! Je rappelle que ces Schwalbe Marathon XR sont censés être increvables... Chapeau les Chleus!
Apr
26
2010
26
2010
Bursts of Color: A Yunnan Market (彩色風暴)
By Evan
*See all our pictures from the Ameng market here
Riding through Yuanyang with Louis, Yunnan on loaded 20" wheel Dahons in October, 2008. You think we're crazy now? by Andy
So, fair readers, since leaving our friends from that last post in Guangxi, we’ve made the big push and finally arrived in our favorite province in China, and the place that inspired this whole shebang over a year ago: Yunnan (雲南). It’s my fourth time in the province and Andy’s third, our last time being October 2008, when we took a one week cruise through the mountains for which we were thoroughly unprepared on 20” wheel folding Dahon bikes with my friend from home Louis. At the end of that trip, sitting in the Hump Hostel in Kunming reflecting over what we had just done over Qingdao and Rummikub, Andy and I decided that riding bikes around China taking pictures and writing was way sweeter than our day jobs. The rest is history.
Yunnan packs in the color, by Andy
Now, while Yunnan translates literally to the land “south of the clouds,” it could just as appropriately have been called the land “in the middle of the mountains (山中省)” or “the land of “10,000 colors (萬色省).” It deserves the mountain moniker because it’s just chock full of insane peaks over which insane highways climb at insanely steep angles, pushing us near (if we’re not already past it) the brink of insanity! It’s that second descriptor, though, that takes the sting out of all that lactic acid. As we forge into the west and toward the skies, the mountains open up into sprawling valleys cut into fractal-like patterns of centuries old terraced fields, and the people adorn themselves in the most eye-catching colors to be seen this side of India. More than the spicy food, the rich cultures, the pristine air, or any of the other million reasons to love Yunnan, the real reason to come is the visuals — drought year or not. (more…)
Apr
26
2010
26
2010
Photo: Baijiu for the Afterlife
The third day of March on the lunar calendar (農歷三月初三) is the Zhuang (壯族) equivalent of the more widely-celebrated Tomb Sweeping Day (清明節). While passing through the village of Danong (大農村), we were invited to join the Nong (農) family in the festivities surrounding the sweeping of their ancestors' tombs. Here, a grandmother and granddaughter pour baijiu (白酒) into cups at a tomb, alongside sticky rice, chickens and other gifts to be sent onto the afterlife.
