Day 24: Shidong

The scenery to Shidong was beautiful – mountains with rice terraces as far as your eyes can see. Our bus passed through numerous tiny villages along the way. This beautiful scenery was interrupted by the driver telling us to get off the bus and pointing to some houses in a distance. Standing in the middle of the road with our backpacks, we gauged at the distance and started walking.

Our first impression was not great. The streets were dusty and full of constriction materials (they were laying the pipes). After checking into our guesthouse, we went straight to the market by the river. Oh my, it was a sight to remember.












The market was more impressive compared to the one in Chong An. There were these huge silver crowns and necklaces (used in weddings) and beautiful embroideries. It was the first time I witnessed the clothes dyeing process. You buy some chunks of special woods or water buffalo skins (different types yield different colors) and white fabric, and take the raw materials to the river bank where you would find tanners busy at work. The whole process was like the movies about the medieval times.












This was a very much a local event as we were the only tourists in the market. This is the way the local Miao people have been buying their essential goods for the past hundreds of years, and I don't think it will change in the years to come.

Photos from left to right: 1) nicely packed live pigs to go, 2) special wood for dyeing the fabric, and 3) locals dyeing (or rather cooking) the fabric.