liuzhou

After the dinner and that awesome farewell we headed back to the county town and a very nice hotel. The whole trip was arranged and paid for by the local government for some very important foreign diplomats, so we were well looked after. Normally, when I'm in this area (about once a month on average) I do stay with local families. I enjoy that a lot, but it was nice to have a bit of luxury for once. I'll show the hotel in tomorrow's post. I still have to sort out the photos.

I've seen it many times over the last 20+ years and I'm still in awe.

@IowaDee I've just been told that the tufts you asked about are indeed cotton.

If you mean these serving containers then you are not seeing things. They are bamboo just as you describe. Bamboo containers are often used by the Dong, not only for serving. Rice and other foods are often steamed in bamboo containers too. They say it improves the taste.

When we arrived in Sanjiang we were led into a theatre where we saw yet another Dong musical extravaganza. This was a professional production billed as a Love Story and although it was OK, it didn't have the magic or thrill of the amateur performances done for love rather than money which we had been watching for two days. So, I thought I'd now take the opportunity to fill in a little detail of the Dong people's food culture. Like the Miao, they very much like their oil tea, made from Tea Seed Oil (Camellia oil). Do not confuse this with the inedible, indeed toxic, tea tree.oil. Dong oil tree is slightly different from the Miao's version. They include spices, ginger and, in particular, garlic. I'm never sure which one I prefer. Usually the one I happen to be drinking at the time. Most Dong people consume this every day and they also share the Miao hospitality rituals associated with the oil tea, offering it to all guests until they can take no more. They also tend to tease guests by serving the tea without chopsticks and seeing how they deal with the rice, peanuts and beans etc which it contains. If a young girl offers a boy a bowl of oil tea, but with only one chopstick, then it has a meaning much more than simple hospitality. I can only politely translate it as "Take me, I'm yours!" Sanjiang county has around 1 million hectares (287,000 square miles) of tea plantations.The best tea is picked in early spring and Sanjiang tea comes to perfection earlier than that in most of China. It is therefore called "No. 1 China Early Spring Tea" and has won many awards. They also enjoy sticky rice cakes made from glutinous rice and sugar. Really sticky, tooth destroyers. I've only eaten them once. It took me weeks to separate my upper and lower teeth! Pickled foods are also very popular and not just vegetables. They also pickle fish, pork etc. Oil tea and pickled foods are mandatory at festivals and weddings. Unlike most Chinese people, the Dong eat a lot of raw food, especially in summer. Carrot, bamboo shoots, tomato and cucumber are chopped into small pieces and mixed as a salad with a vinegar, salt and sugar dressing. They also eat raw fish and even raw pork in a sushi style. Perhaps the strangest is their Herb Soup. This uses various wild herbs and half digested grasses from the stomachs of goats. They believe that this has medicinal properties especially for stomach ailments. The Dong name translates as "Dong Stomach Medicine". I've never had it. After the show, I had a beer and went to bed. Tomorrow, I will post the final instalment which will include one more gustatory novelty.

About an hour and a half later, somewhat behind schedule, we arrived at Guandong village (冠洞村 guàn dòng cūn), a traditional Dong village in the east of Sanjiang Dong county. We were here for something very special. The villagers were hosting a 侗族百家宴 (dóng zú bǎi jiā yàn), "Dong People Hundred Family Feast". We rolled into the village and were escorted to the place of honour facing this drum tower. Totally built of wood, without nails, these are to be found in every Dong village. In fact, they have a saying that a village without a drum tower isn't a village, just a bunch of houses. The drum tower was used to sound warnings or to send signals. Today they are community meeting places, courts, places of worship etc. The centre of village life. . In front of the tower, the villagers put on a short performance for our benefit. Like the Miao people, the Dong also have a Lusheng culture and their music is very similar. As you can see their dress is different from that of the Miao. Here they are singing a song about weaving. After this they bring out tables to fill the square in front of the Drum Tower. At this point, I went for a wander. Behind the drum tower, is the 'main street' - actually, the only street. Here I met this charming young man who babbled away to me in the Dong language - not one in which I am very proficient.. I returned to find this. Everyone has taken up position at a table. I joined the one on the left. Each family in the village makes a meal for one table. This chap made ours and happily served us. Real Dong style home cooking. This means that every table is having a different meal, although of course there are duplicated dishes. But the way it works is that you start out at the table of your choice and sample the delights on offer. Our table had: Daikon radish and carrot Fried carp(?) with tomato and chilli Tofu cubes stuffed with pork and cabbage Cured pig fat Mixed offal and greens in a hot pot. Lizard's Tail Vegetable Now, you might be thinking "I wonder what the other tables have that I might prefer." No problem. You can just get up with your bowl and chopsticks and wander around the other tables. If something takes your fancy, you just join whoever is there. They will most probably offer you a cup of home-made rice wine and encourage you to eat more. Then you can wander off again and search for another table which looks inviting (they all do!) This is not only acceptable behaviour, but expected. Here are some things I found on other tables. Some kind of steamed gourd. Smoked fish Bean Sprouts 蛋饺. These are like jiaozi (potstickers) but the skin is egg rather than pasta. Mini-omelets. and many more The men take to walking around proposing toasts to all the women; while the women do the same to the men. Most just continue eating. Finally, we are full and it is time to leave. This is the bit that tugs my heartstrings every time. As the guests leave, the entire village follows them to the village gate singing their farewell song. I feel it's important to say that they are not doing this only for the benefit of tourists. No money changes hands. It is simple, pure hospitality to strangers. It's not a movie set. This is real life for these people. I feel overwhelmed every time I experience it. And so privileged to be able to share in it. We head for the county town, Sanjiang. Where more adventure awaits us.

Last night. Pork with salted black beans, garlic, ginger, scallions, Shaoxing wine and soy sauce. Served with wilted spinach and rice.

The rest of the trip follows on this topic. I have separated the trip as the two ethnic groups involved, while sharing some things, are mainly quite different.

Note: This follows on from the Munching with the Miao topic. The three-hour journey north from Miao territory ended up taking four, as the driver missed a turning and we had to drive on to the next exit and go back. But our hosts waited for us at the expressway exit and led us up a winding road to our destination - Buyang 10,000 mu tea plantation (布央万亩茶园 bù yāng wàn mǔ chá yuán) The 'mu' is a Chinese measurement of area equal to 0.07 of a hectare, but the 10,000 figure is just another Chinese way of saying "very large". We were in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, where 57% of the inhabitants are Dong. The Dong people (also known as the Kam) are noted for their tea, love of glutinous rice and their carpentry and architecture. And their hospitality. They tend to live at the foot of mountains, unlike the Miao who live in the mid-levels. By the time we arrived, it was lunch time, but first we had to have a sip of the local tea. This lady did the preparation duty. This was what we call black tea, but the Chinese more sensibly call 'red tea'. There is something special about drinking tea when you can see the bush it grew on just outside the window! Then into lunch: Chicken Soup The ubiquitous Egg and Tomato Dried fish with soy beans and chilli peppers. Delicious. Stir fried lotus root Daikon Radish Rice Paddy Fish Deep Fried in Camellia Oil - wonderful with a smoky flavour, but they are not smoked. Out of Focus Corn and mixed vegetable Fried Beans Steamed Pumpkin Chicken Beef with Bitter Melon Glutinous (Sticky) Rice Oranges The juiciest pomelo ever. The area is known for the quality of its pomelos. After lunch we headed out to explore the tea plantation. Interspersed with the tea plants are these camellia trees, the seeds of which are used to make the Dong people's preferred cooking oil. As we climbed the terraces we could hear singing and then came across this group of women. They are the tea pickers. It isn't tea picking time, but they came out in their traditional costumes to welcome us with their call and response music. They do often sing when picking. They were clearly enjoying themselves. And here they are: After our serenade we headed off again, this time to the east and the most memorable meal of the trip. Coming soon.

I have now added the entertainment videos to my previous post.

I'm not sure exactly, but certainly days, if not weeks. I have watched that young man spend an hour just making one flower petal.

Good question. The food allergy problem seems to me to be confined to the more "developed" countries. I've never heard of anyone here being allergic to peanuts (or any other food) here . As you say, peanuts are very difficult to avoid - peanut oil is the cooking oil for example.

Indeed. I've been working and living alongside these people for 21 years and still, every day, my awe overwhelms me. The most awe-inspiring is still to come. It makes my eyes well up every time. Hopefully, I'll be able to post that one tomorrow. China has blocked access to Youtube and I have to use all sorts of trickery to get round their censorship which slows me down.

Yes, It is similar to the bridges I mentioned before. Unfortunately, access to the side of the bridge wasn't really an option so I don't have an overall view. The Miao aren't particularly known for their bridge building skills, but the Dong certainly are. I'm working on sorting pictures and will be posting pictures of one of their bridges, probably tomorrow.

After dinner, we crossed this bridge to a silversmith workshop where they make the elaborate hats and necklaces worn by the women. The man on the left is hammering a piece of silver to make into fine thread which the man on the right slowly and carefully presses into a small mould to make the petals of the flowers which decorate the hat. When the sun set, almost all the villagers came out to entertain us with singing and dancing. The woman in the centre was the compère, but also the check-in person at the hotel we were staying in. This video ends rather abruptly because the young woman walking towards me was about to hand me a cup of rice wine which etiquette demands I accept with both hands, so I had to put the camera down. We were also treated to the best lion dance I've ever seen and I've seen hundreds. After the show was over, we headed back to the hotel and bed. In the morning we partook of a typical Miao breakfast. Again we had oil tea, but there was also boiled eggs, steamed bread, fried noodles, pickles and rice porridge. After breakfast we left on a three hour journey further north, leaving behind the Miao people and moving into Dong territory. to be continued...

Today, I had lunch with one of my oldest and dearest Chinese friends. She now lives in the UK, but is back to make care arrangements for her mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. So good to see her, but sad as to why she is here. Her mother was very kind to me in the past. Now she can't even remember who I am. Anyway, we had a pleasant lunch together and caught up with each other's news. Her mother and sister joined us for lunch. We ate Vegetable Soup Pork Ribs with Snails Sizzling Beef (铁板牛肉 tiě bǎn niú ròu) Water Spinach

Yubu village (雨卜村 yǔ bǔ cūn) is tiny. One street and surrounding fields. A four dog village. But deep in the heart of Miao territory. Village Gate The Street The Dogs Houses But enough of this , I'm hungry after all that mountain climbing lark. So to dinner in the village's only restaurant, which specialises in local freshwater fish. Fish and Tofu Soup Purple Potato Braised Chicken Deep fried fish stuffed wonton-like things. Duck Pumpkin A different kind of fish fritters Daikon Radish Pickled Bamboo Steamed Fish - this was GOOD. Beef with Green Chilli Peppers Another egg and vegetable pancake - this time with a vinegar and soy sauce chilli dip. Vegetation Again, everything we ate was grown, raised or produced in the village's surrounding countryside.. More to come....

After lunch, we relocated to 双龙沟 (shuāng lóng gōu), twin dragon gorge, a sort of protected area of natural scenic beauty (they tell me). It is basically sub-tropical mountain forest. We passed through the gate and climbed slowly up the mountain. The gate. The name at the top reads 双龙沟 (shuāng lóng gōu), but in the older traditional script (traditional Chinese characters) - 雙龍溝 We passed through many bridges over the streams trickling down the mountainside. This one is called "Lucky Bridge. But mostly we we just went up and up, till we reached the top. Here we found a glass bridge across the gorge, high above the treetops. I am not at all good with heights - standing on a chair to change a light bulb terrifies me, so this I was not looking forward to. But I made it. On the other side we headed back down. Apart from the bridge, I really enjoyed the fresh air and the trees. Then, we headed to Yubu, a Miao village where we would have dinner and spend the night.

I have edited the first post to add a couple of relevant videos. Working on dinner.

There is no such thing as a silly question. This is going to be a guess answer, although I will try to have it verified next time I'm there. It won't be wool or goat hair. No sheep anywhere within thousands of miles of here. And few goats. I'm guessing cotton as I know they do grow limited amounts of that. I'll get back to you if I hear any different.

Last week, Liuzhou government invited a number of diplomats from Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar/Burma, Poland, and Germany to visit the city and prefecture. They also invited me along as an additional interpreter. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday introducing the diplomats to the culture of the local ethnic groups and especially to their food culture. First off, we headed two hours north into the mountains of Rongshui Miao Autonomous County. The Miao people (苗族 miáo zú), who include the the Hmong, live in the mid-levels of mountains and are predominantly subsistence farmers. Our first port of call was the county town, also Rongshui (融水 róng shuǐ, literal meaning: Melt Water) where we were to have lunch. But before lunch we had to go meet some people and see their local crafts. These are people I know well from my frequent work trips to the area, but for the diplomats, it was all new. So, I had to wait for lunch, and I see no reason why you shouldn't either. Here are some of the people I live and work with. This lovely young woman is wearing the traditional costume of an unmarried girl. Many young women, including her, wear this every day, but most only on festive occasions. Her hat is made from silver (and is very heavy). Here is a closer look. Married women dispense with those gladrags and go for this look: As you can see she is weaving bamboo into a lantern cover. The men tend to go for this look, although I'm not sure that the Bluetooth earpiece for his cellphone is strictly traditional. The children don't get spared either This little girl is posing with the Malaysian Consul-General. After meeting these people we went on to visit a 芦笙 (lú shēng) workshop. The lusheng is a reed wind instrument and an important element in the Miao, Dong and Yao peoples' cultures. Then at last we headed to the restaurant, but as is their custom, in homes and restaurants, guests are barred from entering until they go through the ritual of the welcoming cup of home-brewed rice wine. The consular staff from Myanmar/Burma and Malaysia "unlock" the door. Then you have the ritual hand washing part. Having attended to your personal hygiene, but before entering the dining room, there is one more ritual to go through. You arrive here and sit around this fire and wok full of some mysterious liquid on the boil. On a nearby table is this Puffed rice, soy beans, peanuts and scallion. These are ladled into bowls. with a little salt, and then drowned in the "tea" brewing in the wok. This is 油茶 (yóu chá) or Oil Tea. The tea is made from Tea Seed Oil which is made from the seeds of the camellia bush. This dish is used as a welcoming offering to guests in homes and restaurants. Proper etiquette suggests that three cups is a minimum, but they will keep refilling your cup until you stop drinking. First time I had it I really didn't like it, but I persevered and now look forward to it. L-R: Director of the Foreign Affairs Dept of Liuzhou government, consuls-general of Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos. Having partaken of the oil tea, finally we are allowed to enter the dining room, where two tables have been laid out for our use. Let the eating, finally, begin. In no particular order: Steamed corn, taro and sweet potato Bamboo Shoots Duck Banana leaf stuffed with sticky rice and mixed vegetables and steamed. Egg pancake with unidentified greenery Stir fried pork and beans Stir fried Chinese banana (Ensete lasiocarpum) Pig Ears This may not look like much, but was the star of the trip. Rice paddy fish, deep fried in camellia tree seed oil with wild mountain herbs. We ate this at every meal, cooked with slight variations, but never tired of it. Stir fried Greens Our meal was accompanied by the wait staff singing to us and serving home-made rice wine (sweetish and made from the local sticky rice). Everything we ate was grown or reared within half a kilometre of the restaurant and was all free-range, organic. And utterly delicious. Roll on dinner time. On the trip I was designated the unofficial official photographer and ended up taking 1227 photographs. I just got back last night and was busy today, so I will try to post the rest of the first day (and dinner) as soon as I can.

Arrived home at 9 pm after a two day trip, tired and hungry, but was able to pick up the makings of a meal and put it together. I did a sort of 青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn) which is stir fried pork slices with green chilli peppers. Also has the usual suspects: garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and scallions. A very common fast food type dish around these parts. It is normally served with rice, but I'm not normal so I served it with 刀削面 (dāo xiāo miàn) or "knife cut noodles". I'd like to claim that I made the noodles myself, but it would be an outrageous lie. I bought them dried from the local store. Tomorrow morning, I have to leave again for a three day trip into rural ethnic minority territory. Hope to have some interesting food to report at the weekend.

I'm twitching with envy and lust for just such a dish!

I was there in early September. Not bad at all!

Which year?