China - Mingshi Garden

Dear Family and Friends,

Our morning started out with a drive through the countryside.  Lots of farming goes on in this part of China. I took this picture of a load of black sugar cane. I had never heard of this type of sugar cane before.

A short time later, I was able to photograph some growing as we drove along.

Beautiful fields with an absolutely stunning backdrop.

We finally stopped and were able to see some farming up close.  Here is a person planting something in a newly plowed area.

Our guide pointing and describing the farming practices of growing rice.

This is how rice looks up close as it is growing.  We were lucky to be there at harvesting time.

They cut it and stack it like this, on top of the stubble to let it start the drying process.

After a short walk, we discovered we had another adventure in store for us. We were going to go by bamboo raft up this river.

All the boats were filled with Chinese tourists and headed out.  Even though our boat was the last to leave, we soon passed them all because Chuck, me and our tour guide were the only passengers on our boat.

Our boat tour guide was dressed in the regional clothes and since she could not speak english, she sang regional fold songs to us as we went down the river.

This man powered our boat by pushing this long stick against the bottom of the river.  

We were a light load compared to the other boats we passed.

The scenery was spectacular.

There was even a tea kettle full of hot regional tea for us to try.

Very healthy, they said.  Chuck chugged his down. I took one tiny sip and decided it wasn't for me.

The ride was very relaxing and the views were so calming and picturesque.

Here we are, at the end of our ride, posing in front of the mountains.

We had lunch in the building on the left.  What a beautiful view.

Here is Chuck chugging down a welcome drink.  He doesn't miss out on a thing.

Notice the red balls above his head that look like red spiders hanging down.  

Tomorrow we visit the village where these are made.

Love,
Nancy