The Dragon's Backbone by Steve

28th June 2008





We did the easy walk from our hotel in Huaihua to the train station. The train was conveniently on platform one so no Chariots of Fire running this time. We'd had to buy sleeper tickets so got a bed for the day journey, so I stretched out and then felt guilty so went and joined Jo on her bunk. Liang Yong Xiang, coming back from university, marvelled at our game of Hangman. Jo was sneaky and got me with 'Juice', hard one that. We showed them the map of our trip and they were very impressed, but then, they had never been to Beijing or Shanghai let alone outside China. We talked about university costs and how 19% of young Chinese go to uni - that's quite a lot of students. His English was great but a slight mixup meant he thought we thought he was competing for China in the Olympic games at table tennis. Another guy took pity on our inability to visit Xian and presented me with a little Terracotta Warrior replica, then showed us his photos from Guilin, which included 5 versions of every event, just in case the first one wasn't quite right. They then taught us how to say toilet in Chinese properly.

Friends on the train.

We had forgotten the time and had to rush to get off when the train stopped at Sanjiang. I ran down the corridor with shouts of 'Toilet' in Chinese following me. Then I got to the door, and there was no platform! We had to jump down from the train onto the tracks and get a leg up on the platform. The Bristol Chinese Railway Fugitives. A man in a Pimp My Ride van with LCD TV built into the sun visor and controlled from the radio drove us to Sanjiang bus station through some great scenery.

The bus to Longshen was at about 330pm and so we had time to get some food. I was afraid to eat or drink too much just in case I got caught short on the bus. The bus journies have been a challenge to see how much food and drink I can restrict myself to for fear of wetting myself. Also, as the Chinese pointed out on the train, I can't say toilet right either so even if I needed it they may not understand in time.





We then got the bus to the Longji terraces, which is the name for the area in which are the two villages which comprise the Dragons Backbone Rice Terraces, Ping'An and Jinkeng. This bus was not a bus at all, it was a community lifeline used to carry the local people around and all the things they needed for work and living. People got on with huge bags of rice the size of small children. A man got on with a pair of chickens feet sticking out of a carrier bag. A band got on with a keyboard that went down the aisle of the bus, and 2 guitars. Not sure who they were but if there's a band out there called Dragons Backbone you saw it here first. A woman got on and singlehandedly managed to fill the entire front half of the bus with buckets of stuff. We stopped at a sawmill, the driver tooted, and a man chucked a big bag into the van, presumably for onward delivery. A woman hailed her friend in a shop and she bought out a bag of food for her. And all this was done with much smiling and cooperation even if you did have to sit on a bag of rice for 90 minutes.





The road followed the river and the scenery was great. We drove through a waterfall, first time I've done that on a bus, and round landslides. Past houses literally build on the edge of the cliff and supported by concrete pillars.





We got to the end of the road and watched in horror and amusement as a group of 5ft women with wicker backpacks competed for the honour of lugging our bags the 25 minute walk up the hill to our accomodation. It was like going backpacking with my Nana. They carried our bags up to our rooms and then held us hostage while they piled mountains of woven gear on to the bed from the wicker backpacks. They would only go when I had bought a silly hat and Jo a belt, and even then we had to tell them to hop it.

The Little Nanas




As we were choosing dinner an awful sound came from outside, like a cat being tortured. The noise disappeared, then a man walked in holding a chicken by its wings, and it was this chicken making that awful sound. It all got a bit distressing so I had to gesticulate for him to take it outside. He didn't seem bothered. There were lots of insects in the room so it was like sleeping in the Insect House at the zoo, but at least they're not harmful.





29 June 2008

We set off from Da Zie at 930 to walk through the Backbone terraces. As we were enjoying the solitude a mere 15 minutes after setting off, a Chinese tour group of about 40 people appeared, led by a man waving an enormous Chinese Flag. It was like being on a Communist March through the terraces with a leisure branch of the Red Army.


Walking with the Red Army

It was boiling hot. The terraces were a treat to walk through, the path running right through them, friendly locals always with a Hello in English and/or Chinese. Streams, waterfalls and great views. There are many other rice terraces in South China but this is the biggest concentration of them.

The money shot

A dog joined us for part of the walk just as the Chinese left us. We had some bizarre ice lollies on the way, sweetcorn and rice pudding. We arrived in Ping'an at about 3pm and caught the bus back. We watched the sky turn pink over the terraces just before night fell. As we turned off the light to go to sleep, Jo made friends with a big flying beetle who took a shine to her new pyjamas.