Ok, I know this is late but it is good. These stories are from yesterday but I had some Internet and app issues.
\nThanks to Chinese New Year driving an otherwise very had working people to a degree of laziness I had to set off at 8:30 to get to my 12:30 bus in Zhangjaijie City. While the bus station in Zhangjaijie was less nice than Changsha's, it is light-years ahead of Chiang Rai's. I ate some xiaolongbao (小笼包) and waited for my bus. The bus itself was actually really nice, the passengers sat in the second floor so I got a great front row seat to the madness that the Chinese describe as a road network. After a occasionally peaceful and often nerve-wracking bus ride I made it to Fenghuang County (凤凰县) and met my friend for first dinner. \nFirst dinner was soup, rice, duck with duck's blood rice, egg with some type of wild vegetable, and a fried fresh mini-shrimp pancake (to serve as a balance to the giant shrimp of Thailand). We then walked around Phoenix Ancient Town, where we ran into three dudes who really like me for some reason. I took some pictures with my fan club and continued on. \nAfter quickly dropping my bags off in my room, my friend and I hurried to the nightly Miao cultural show. The Miao are one of China's minority peoples, like the Hui, and I believe are actually in the majority in this small part of China. They have their own cultural traditions, art, style, and language from the majority Han (the group most people think when you say "Chinese people") people. After a torch lit precession and running into my fan club again to the stage the show got underway. There is a very particular style of Chinese tourist show that I have seen on TV but never experance firsthand. While there was the standard dancing and explaining cultural traditions, there were several elements that felt more Chinese. First, there were two different art auctions during the show. While the art was nice my friend told me the prices were greatly inflated. Next, there was a large amount of audience participation. After being somewhat conscripted by my friend, I ended up dressed in traditional Miao women's clothing and entered into a drum contest. I think I totally bombed, apparently no one else thought so since I won. My prize was an ox necklace (apparently the Miao like oxen), some black good luck face paint, and quite a bit of rice wine. I thought they were only going to give me a shot, but when I downed the shot they handed me a flower pot and told me to "干杯" (ganbei: literally "drain the cup" is used as the toast in China and implies you kill the drink in question) that too (which I did) I was aloud to sit down as the One Night King of Miao Drums. Don't worry about the alcohol, Chinese rice wine actually has very little. \nMy friend and I then got second dinner at a late nighy grill (which is apparently another Miao thing) which was good but it apparently wasn't the best.
5 Comments
sharon
1/26/2017 11:02:38 pm
O.M.G.! That looks so amazing! What is the music like? I don't see instruments?
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Jared Paul Miller
1/26/2017 11:09:25 pm
There were two guys with trumpet type instruments, a lot of drums, and some caned background music. It was super cool, I am glad I went.
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Dad
1/26/2017 11:17:40 pm
Wow. Fenghuang really looks like stereotypical China. You also look like a giant compared to the native Miao
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Patty
1/27/2017 07:20:11 pm
That looks like it was a lot of fun! I'm impressed with all your adventures! I would be exhausted...
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gramma M
1/28/2017 03:37:13 am
The pictures are awesome. Duck blood rice, mini scrimp pancakes that look like larvae infestations, drummer in female clothes, topped off by enough wine to get your entire family bombed--what a trip!
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AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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