John and Jean: Zhaoxing Primary School - Tang'an Dong Ethnic Eco-Museum

There is action in the village this morning! Very early...just after the rooster crowed...there was the scraping of shovels in the town square. I walked down to the bridge to check it out. There must have been 30-40 men and women working on making concrete. Piles of gravel, sand, and a mountain of cement bags had appeared and they were really going after it!

I never did quite figure out their proportions...

but there must have been a local "Steve" to

assure quality!

The initial water technique was filling the large bucket

and passing it over to the mixing area...

Then they got resourceful with an electric pump...seemed to work

and, despite my fears, nobody got electrocuted in the process.

and they mixed on through the morning...

and men moved it to the construction site in wheelbarrows.

Meanwhile, farmers headed to the rice paddies...

and others returned with fodder for the animals.

Caught sight of this huge spider web as I was

climbing up the stairs from tai chi.

Then off to the local primary school, one of the

largest for ethnic students...these tile panels

were at the entrance.

Map looks a little different....

Very nice school building...

Teacher's Computer Room...the

students don't have access to computers.

We spoke with the Head Master for about 30 minutes

about all aspects of education. He seemed to be

very open to our questions.

Then we wandered the classrooms...during recess.

a little chaotic and we didn't see any teachers, but

calmer than Holy Cross during breaks.

Each morning the students do their eye exercises.

This is also a boarding school for about 80 of the students who live too far away to walk to school. We weren't supposed to take pictures there...bunk beds for 8 kids in each small room...very crowded but clean. Headed back to town for some free wander time.

Many of the ladies in the Village were involved

with dying their traditional indigo fabric. The

dye water was in these large pots...

The fabric is about 14" wide--the width of the loom it
was woven on. The cotton is grown here, the thread
spun here and the fabric woven here.

The fabric is removed from the dye pot and then rinsed

in a special pond. There seem to be several small areas

where they do this washing.

Then the fabric is folded and continually pounded

for two days to help the cotton absorb the color.

You can hear the rhythmic sound from morning til night...

and the mallets are heavy.

Then the fabric is hung in the sun to dry...

wherever space is available.

and eventually made into this type of clothing or

used as a surface for their intricate embroideries.

These are the cement workers from this morning

cleaning off their tools...the piles are gone and the

square ready for other activities.

This family was grinding corn in the public

mortar and pestle. Dad was taking good care

to keep the little one safe!

Heading up the road to their small patch of garden...

We never quite figured out what these

small tent shaped bamboo and screening

forms were for...we're thinking for some sort

of greenhouse type cover.

I wandered to the backside of the hotel and caught

this elderly gentleman heading into his tiny garden by

the side of the road..about 2x6'.

As we headed to lunch we passed the market...yum!

On our walk to the parking lot, these guys were

working on developing a garden area by the river

This lady was returning from her
field...

and this young lady was washing out her van...

inside and out...the lift was great!

Then into the bus and off to the Tang'an Dong Ethnic Eco-Museum. The sign at the entrance of the Village read...Tang'an is renowned as the "most primitive Dong Village" in China. The village is 5 km (3 miles) from the Zhaoxing Village. The country road stretches to the village, which is located on a mountainside and is surrounded by paddy field and lush greens. There are about 800 people and 160 households in the village. The village has a long history, though it hasn't got any written records of its history.
China's first ecological museum--Tang'an Dong Ethnic Eco-museum is just located here. Tang 'an eco-museum was founded in 1995 by China and Norway and is not an ordinary one. It has no particular building but extends focus to the Tang 'an village and the surrounding environment, where the inhabitants share common language, common customs in dressing and building, common culture and mentality etc. The communities are still living in a natural economy where the men plough and the women weave. They also maintain unique customs in wedding, burial, sacrificing ceremonies,
music and dances.
It is truly a people-centered living museum, person and event being part of the collection. The villagers' articles for daily use, production tools and clothing and ornament are themselves exhibits. There is an information center at the top of the village, where the past of the villagers is displayed through a comprehensive collection of Dong cultural data in the region.