Off the Beaten Track

Arriving in the tourism hub of Longji I felt disheartened by the buzz of English- I had come to China to experience a different culture and had so far been disappointed by the amount of western influences. I was therefore excited when the guide from the bus approached us to let us know that the road to our hotel was closed and we would have to walk for 2 hours in the sweltering heat to find it. We wormed our way along cobbled paths through the patchwork of ramshackle buildings perched precariously wherever space could be found, and eventually emerged out the other side of the village into the open expanse of the rice fields. From where we stood we could see the path snaking its way between rolling mountains, scarred with the agricultural genius of the ancestors of those who worked in the fields today. The further we walked, the more secluded the world became, until it was only our small group crawling like ants through the vast landscape in the stifling humidity, shrouded in a veil of shimmering heat. After many hours of trekking we finally arrived in the village which would become our home for the night. We dropped off our bags and waited until night fell so we could leave the comfort of air conditioning without feeling faint, before searching for somewhere to eat dinner. A small restaurant drew our attention and I noticed a large jar outside labelled 'snake wine'. Upon closer investigation I saw that the jar contained a tangle of snakes fermenting in a clear liquid (to anyone else this would have seemed grotesque but i was immediately intrigued). The menu contained an array of traditional dishes including bamboo rice and BBQ sparrow- we were finally submerged into true Chinese culture! During our meal, the sound of singing drifted upwards from the darkness beneath. The music drew us nearer and we raced under arches and over empty voids, narrowly avoiding the wooden shacks which so reminded me of the dens I used to build in the forest as a child, making this alien country feel like home. The music grew louder and the ground began to vibrate as chanting and stamping joined the melodic voices. We rounded a corner into a courtyard and saw a group of adults banging sticks along the ground in a hypnotic rhythm while children jumped in time, narrowly avoiding the sticks in a sort of game. The children’s laughter lit up the night along with the glowing red lanterns lining the square- a single hidden gem had become my treasure chest.