Traditional village with character, LiKeng, Jiangxi

LiKeng is a wonderful old village dating back about a millennium. I loved its endearing character, nice, relatively clean-water river running as a 'main street' through it; bright green, dew-bathed rice fields and 2 good temples around it. Not only the houses/buildings but also the way of life are quite preserved in its old not so hurried ways, alternating portions of being and doing all in a wonderful natural setting.
The preservation effort for things, especially houses/building, is imposed to very strict measures, for example new construction is not allowed, and only restoration in the old style is permitted. The new houses are built in the near-by, but light years away in terms of spirit and attitude Da LiKeng (Da = Big) which is reportedly very touristy, highly commercialized, with KTVs (karaoke bars) and so on in the main street.

30 yuan admission fee, on the top of the 160 or so yuan ticket for the whole Wu Yuan area. Accommodation there is in a private houses each having 2-3 or more rooms adopted for visitors. My and the ones I saw were clean and good, well deserving the
60 yuan. It had also good, inexpensive food, all served by friendly folks.

In the morning, everybody was carrying on a cleanness contest, washing their cloths and/or teeth in or over the river. In the evening, many people would gather together here and there and chat, knit outside their houses on the bridges above the river. No any other visitors in sight the whole evening, in the morning – 4-6 more tourists but that was all (which is amazing, highly unusual in abundant on human resources China). It was a greatly relaxing, tranquil place, really lovely.

Countryside, Traditional Villages - China, Jiangxi

I intend to catch up on posting here as I found a way around the restrictions to doing it. Hope all who follow this blog would appreciate the effort.

This is a post from a trip to a place with lots of character tucked in a beautiful, very tranquil countryside setting.
If you search for "most beautiful village, China", Wu Yuan would definitely come on top.











Wu Yuan is often used as the general name of a cluster of villages in the Jingxi province of China, most of them presenting old, traditional style life in the countryside targeting contemporary tourist.
Wu Yuan itself is not dramatically spectacular sans the old Qing dynasty bridge and some traits of the the old way of life (think of slow-pace and folks having the time to talk to you - well in Wu Yuan - mainly to try to sell you something), but there is plenty around to make the whole area a remarkable destination.




Fine examples of porcelain/china for the tourists entertainment/money.

Wu Yuan surroundings.







































Not far from Wu Yuan is the DaZhang Shan which is more of a tourist trap than anything else - a park /path meandering around nice low mountain river dotted with more vendors and restaurants than scenic spots. Still, one can enjoy a few nice pools, some waterfalls and "Lovers Valley" - the romance of which ends with the name.
Well, the creativity of kitsch and the call for artificial, dead things even in "Nature" is enormous when it comes to targeting the tourists money, but most of the Chinese seem enjoy it (and be ready to pay for it) while for many of the villagers it's understandably a life-line of existence.

Entrance fee for DaZhang Shan: 60 Yuan.
Wu Yuan ticket - 180 Yuan which includes several of the attractions but some in the region are extra (like Li Keng village entrance, see next post).

However the surroundings of DaZhang Shan are quite nice and may deserve another visit. Some picturesque villages there, nice scenery, and hopefully bu kaifa (undeveloped).

Day by the Lake

The pictures tell the stories.
One the most amazing things in life is that so beautiful thing as the lotus grows from the mud. (and if that can happen, imagine what could become from you.)

Back in Guangxi: Longji - Longsheng - The Dragon Bones in the Terraced Rice Fields

The famous Longji - the man-made wondrous Dragon Bone Rice Terraces





































- are still cultivated the same way they've been worked since their creation in the Yuan dynasty (ca 1271-)

There are up to 100 terraces from bottom to top up the hill; in May the terraces are flooded and rice is being sawn, with the advance of the summer the color changes from green to gold (in August, when the time to harvest comes).

Local Yao, Zhuang and [one more..] minorities villages and their women's colorful traditional dresses dot the way to Longsheng.

Many Yao women make a living as "porters" carrying swiftly up and down the hills goods and tourists' luggage, others produce and sell hand-made crafts.

The hiking between the picturesque village of Ping'an - the biggest out there - and the smaller entities of Zhonglin and the spread along the hills many guesthouses and tiny villages is superb.