Yangjuan

Yangjuan

Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture

11:06AM Monday May 9, 2005

Hello everyone,

A the last two nights have been okay, but I've been waking up pretty stuffed up and weak. During
the day, I feel alright, but just not the same energy level I've had over the past few weeks. The
best thing to do is rest, keep cool and hydrated and not stress myself out about all the things I
have to do following my 5 day excursion to Yangjuan.

Like I said before, Yangjuan was great aside from the long journey to get there and back. First, it
was the 8 hour train ride on a hard seat to Xichang, then a 4 hour cab ride going over 65 mph on
winding roads up to 3000m (oh lord, I almost puked), AND THEN another 3-4 hour smokey
bus ride on unpaved rocky roads to the town of Baiwu and, eventually, to the small village of
Yangjuan.

Walk to Yangjuan from Baiwu.

The village is a heavy farming community nestled at 2500m
in between small mountain valleys composted of mostly
barren lands cleared for planting or grazing and pine
dominated hillsides. The weather is quite arid, but overall,
it was a pleasant temperature, sunny for the first few days
and the stars at night were absolutely stunning to gaze at.

Being that it was my first time there, I had a difficult time when it came to
interracting with our Yi hosts. With my standard Chinese already being as weak
as it is, there was no way I could understand their language. I keep thinking
about what my friend Bian once said before I came to China, "A simple smile
and gentle gesture goes a long way in expressing your sincerity" and, in a way, it
was quite effective this time around. I didn't feel like a stranger to them and I
didn't feel intimidated or "bothered".

They live such a simple lifestyle that reminds me of how I interracted with the
native Negros back when I lived in our family farm back in Pampanga. So
much about how they live and their surrounding environment gave me
flashbacks of the "bundok" that I grew up in when I was maybe 4-6 years old.
The long walks to town to get materials and supplies, cautiously walking up the
steep hillsides, the many farms that seem to continue beyond the horizon, and
just about everything being done by hand without the use of large machinery.
How nice to see water buffalo again! hehe. The local houses within this village
were also fascinating to see as the walls appear to be the same clay soil we see
up in the mountains and the roofs simply thatched with ellaborately woven dried
foliage and planks of pine or alder wood.

So, what did I do while I was there aside from reminisce about the
bundok? Well, I found my comfy spot at the Yangjuan school! A
large walnut tree stood within the courtyard of the school and it's
sturdy trunk and branches allowed me to climb up and spend my
afternoons in the cool, filtered shade listening to music, writing in
my personal journal and seeing the light green of the pinnate foliage
against the vivid sky blue above. The mornings are spent getting up
after a rough nights sleep on the really hard and lumpy beds, eating
a breakfast of mantou and more mantou..ick...and setting out to do
some work. We usually reunite for lunch and the rest of the
afternoon is spent either going out to do more work or just chillin'
at the courtyard.

I'll leave it at that. You guys got the meat of the
whole trip. In terms of plants, it was kinda "blah", but
I did see some Rhodies and my most exciting find
was a patch of Calanthe tricarinata (orchid species).
Seeing an orchid that you know, in the wild, has got
to be one of the most exhillarating experiences for a
plant lover.

Cheers,

Riz