The second village was visited by Alisa, Maria, Don and myself when we were in the Guilin area.
This was an equally fine visit. The village is located on farmland and we saw people washing
large, white radishes in a stream. The farmland looked prosperous and people were out working
the small plots of land. The distinctive scenery of the Guilin area made a wonderful backdrop.
The village buildings dated back to the Ming and Qing dynasties and we could see the eras represented by different
building materials. The Ming builders didn't use brick, but used rock in cement for their walls. The Qing era used grey
brick and the red brick is from modern times. It was interesting to walk the narrow streets and see the lovely wood
lattice work that is remaining. The old homes were very tall, in the Qing style. This village has a history of
producing great scholars from the Zhou family. As such, it was a prestigious village, since scholarship is held in
such high esteem in China. Now the village is the home of elderly people, as most young people have moved away
to the cities for better work. It was a historical jewel with well preserved streets, buildings, stone bridges and irrigation
canals.
After seeing inside one of the Qing era homes of a wealthy village family from 150-200 years ago, I was grateful for what
modern life affords us. It was a very nice and ornate wooden home, with a very tall and spacious public room. However, the floors
were hardened earth and the kitchen would have been without all of our modern expectations. Even the poorest in Canada
now lives better than the kings and emperors of yore. We have electricity, hot water from a tap, central heat and refrigerators. We
all have these basics. Plus, we don't have a communal bathroom. (Alisa's photo)
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