Miao and Dong peoples Lecture - Sunday Market - Paper Factory

Tai chi this morning and then breakfast at the hotel.  A lecture by a professor from Kaili Normal College had been on the schedule.  He was unable to make it and sent someone in his place but it was a pretty jumbled presentation.  Fortunately, Michael, our new regional guide, had done a good job explaining about the Miao and Dong people on the way from the airport, so I think we have a fair understanding of the groups.  Lots of changes in scheduling but as we say in Belize...."Hey, it's Belize"...same old same old here.

 After the lecture we hopped on the new bus to the Sunday Market

 Passed the local nursery along the way..the plants were selling well!

 Then into the narrow streets of the Miao Sunday market...

this guy was having a read and rest before heading home.

Come walk through the Market with us...

 This man makes beautiful cutting boards from these logs.

 Water chestnuts...

 Ladders...we've been by some guys that could use these!

 New heads for your shovel, rake, you name it!

then this guy will attach the handle you choose.

 New plows for the water buffalo to pull...

 

 Rebar for all you Belize folks...they were straightening it.

 The animal market..mostly puppies, but some ducks,

chickens and a couple of rabbits.  In the

building behind me they were having dog fights.

 Guess what's for dinner at her house.

 The kids will be happy to see him!!

 Helping Dad in the store...with video games.

 They cut great designs into the pineapple...

and of course we could only look :-(

Meters and meters of beautiful fabric...

 and the thread and yarn for their 

traditional embroidery work.

 Tofu anyone?

An explanation from the rice wine merchant.

Dentist appointment...hope she had plenty of rice wine!

This little guy was having a great time playing 

peekaboo with John!

winnowing baskets of all sizes.

and then the meat market.

But..time to hit the road.  We had lunch in the bus and headed for Shiqiao (Stone Bridge) Village to visit where paper has been made from mulberry tree bark for 600 years.  We met with the Village Chief for a discussion of how the village has remained timeless yet entered the global market with exportation of their handcrafted product.

The bus ride was fabulous...windy roads with very sharp hairpin turns...the driver was honking a lot!  We passed this construction site where the people were building a retaining wall of stone.  Almost all manual labor.

 Miles and miles of rice patties and water buffalo...

 and lot of other crops...tea, cabbage, broccoli,

rape seed....

 and a few farmers with small one cylinder tractors.

Just planting the rice this week.

 Bump...the bus was coming around the corner and

this motorcycle was in our lane...scratched the

bus so there was some serious negotiation going on.

and bystanders appeared from nowhere.

Michael interpreted for us as we asked questions of the Chief.  148 people help in making the paper, from 60 households.  They make three kinds of paper:  1. paper used to repair old books for the Beijing Public Library; 2. artistic paper for painting and 3. common paper for everyday use.  They currently have a group of college interns working on new uses for their paper.

Process:  Gobe Tree bark is stripped and soaked in the river for 45 days.  Rice hay is then burned and they use the ash to coat the bark and steam it for 48 hours.  They then soak it to remove the juices.  Then fibers separate easily.  Do a second soak to wash away the ash and turn upside down for 7 days.  They spread it out to dry and 

 

 then it's cleaned by hand and beaten with a hammer into pulp.

The pulp is mixed with water and then the frame is
dipped and shaken to spread pulp evenly on screen.

 Pat tried...not as easy as it looks!

The screen is then lifted and the paper stacked.

the paper is then put in a press to remove excess water

and then dried on this huge drying drum.  This is the

common paper...similar to tissue paper.  It goes on it fairly 

thick piles and is pulled off one sheet at a time as it dries.

The heavier artistic papers are dried in the frames below.

 We then had a little time to wander through 

the  small village.  Very friendly kids..

especially if treats come out!

 Lots of puppies.

 The government is having a real push for tourism 

in the Minority areas.  There are vast sums of money

being put into road construction and beautiful

entries to villages.  This is the plan for Shiqiao.

 and this is the progress so far.  I'm glad we were able to

come now while it's still rustic and as it's been for

hundreds of years.  Many fear it will ruin these areas.

Across the road from the construction is the

traditional Miao covered bridge--each Miao community

has one and it's paid for by the community.

The appeal of sand is almost as strong 

as the appeal of water!

After about 30 minutes of wandering town 

we headed back down the mountain to town.

Had another marvelous family style dinner

with a seemingly endless array of great dishes!

Very interesting day!!