Day 31: Zhaoxing

We weren't quite sure what to expect of Zhaoxing before we arrived because Zhaoxing is a much larger Dong village. During the Oct 1st Golden Week, more than 10,000 visitors came to the village. So we braced ourselves and bit the bullet. Oh my, it was a good decision. We ended up staying for four days.













The village is an authentic living heritage, not just some place restored simply for the tourist dollar. The locals live in the village and work the farms. Katy and I trekked to two smaller villages further away in the mountains. Besides the locals, we were the only people on the trail. It was peaceful and beautiful. Rice terraces and small creeks run along side the trail. You could see the locals busy working their farms.









When we finished the trail, we would go back to our guesthouse for a hot shower and looked for dinner on the main street. It was conveniently set up. The food was good too, especially for a mountain village.









One trek we did was to Tang An, about two hours of hike from Zhaoxing. This is where we met Mr. Zhang, our unofficial tour guide for Tang An. We were chatting him up next to a pork vendor about the history of Tang An. He seemed very knowledgeable, so we worked out a deal for him to be our guide for RMB13 (US$2). Why RMB13? That is the price of 500g of pork (standard unit). After the tour, he invited us for lunch at his home. We had good discussions on various topics. One in particular was the beautiful aesthetic of the traditional Chinese writing. He is a scholar (and also an Internet shop owner).

Photos about Tang An: