Longji Rice Terraces
Trip Start
Apr 05, 2009
1
17
21
Trip End
Jun 02, 2009
Longsheng, Guangxi Zhuang, China
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The weather the first day up at Lonji was not so good. A sort of fog hung over the mountainside making it very difficult to view the terraces. I went on a walk around the villages and up the hillsides just to get out, but the pictures were not impressive. Some of the local minorities that live in these villages are known for their women growing out their hair quite long. A group of older women with their hair tied up approached me and simply said, "Picture...long hair". They wanted me to pay them to take a picture. If it was a reasonable price I would have been happy to. But it wasn't, and because of the weather the background would be rubbish anyway. I politely declined without realizing how tenacious these women really were. They literally followed ("chased" would be a more appropriate word perhaps) me all over the rice terraces continually pleading: "Picture....long hair!" I finally was able to evade them and find a place with some peace and quiet.
I resorted to my tried and true method of "waiting out the weather" and the second day it cleared up and the sun came out. I met an older group of Chinese tourists that sort of adopted me as part of their group. We hiked to an older village outside of Ping An and had lunch there. Since the sun was out everything on the hillsides was bright and clear. I enjoyed walking along the paths between the rice terraces, breathing the fresh mountain air, and just taking it all in. It was a nice place to be. I returned to Guilin by bus in the evening. From Guilin I took a late night bus to Yangshuo. Yangshuo area is supposed to be one of China's most beautiful landscapes. We will see how it treats me!
