Guizhou- The road less traveled in China (chapter 8.1 of 9)

Day 4 part a - Southeastern Guizhou
Conjiang to Sandu

There was nothing much about Congjiang town apart from being just a transit point. Perhaps a good hair wash is ideal there. We had a good hair wash in a small saloon last night. The saloon owner was Beijing trained. He looked a little awkward with his fashionable outfit and hairstyling in this simple town in the mountain.

A long warp

We left the town in the morning as there was long journey ahead with few villages and a market to visit. I was happy that my camera battery was fully charged now. Before long after leaving the town in the comfort of our car, ( I forgot to snap a picture of the car) we came upon a group of ladies preparing warps for weaving by the road. It was so handy for those ladies to comb the warp with their combs. When they didn't need the combs, they poke them onto the buns on their heads.

Dong village

We enjoyed the scenic view from Congjiang to Ronjiang. After 2 & 1/2 hours on the road, we reached Rongjiang town where we stopped over for lunch before heading north. hjllkkkkkkkkllk kkkkkkkjjjjj jjjjkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

'Lazhi Chi'
Sichuan peppercorn chicken

This restaurant that our driver brought us for lunch looked very presentable from its entrance with beautiful signage and decoration. Again, we got disappointed with it once we made the entrance. The restaurant was dirty, dusty with very simple sitting areas.  We were the only guests at that moment. Well, we thought let's not judge, maybe the food is good. 

I ordered my favourite Sichuan dish-' Lazhi Chi' (Sichuan peppercorn chicken). Sichuan is the neighbour province of Guizhou, therefore, this dish is equally popular among the people in Guizhou. Sichuan peppercorn had the fame of it's powerful numbing sensation. By combining Sichuan peppercorn and dried chili pepper in cooking the dish, gosh, spicy with tingly numbness makes it a killer dish! This was my third time ordering this dish since arriving Guizhou. I love this dish after first tried it in Xinjiang.

Just as we preparing to leave, we witness a local funeral procession. It looked like a Chinese Han funeral to me with the band, deceased portrait, elaborate wreaths, miniature house and etc. The big white bird did look unusual to me. Was it a belief that the big bird might carry the deceased to heaven?

Funeral possession

Our car sped off the road, leaving Rongjiang behind us. In 2 hours time, we had arrived to a market around Dujiang. The market was not big and nor crowded. Perhaps, we were late that most vendors & people had left. I enjoyed observing the people there. These two kids as shown on the pictures below that really caught my attention. What do you think of them?

One looked smart and mischievous, the other seems like a small adult.

'V' sign is international

I had conversation with a young Miao girl who was shy but amiable. Her name is 'San Mei' and she came from the nearby village called ‘Bakai Xiaoxiang'. I didn't ask which group of Miao she hailed from. Most of them do not categorize themselves with a specific name, apart from the main group they belong. All the names like long skirt Miao, short skirt Miao and so on were given to them by others based on the characteristics of their outfits. I had many experiences of asking them about that and the response I received were confused looks. I tried to search this village/small town online, but couldn't find it. It was either I recorded wrongly or it is a very small village. Before saying goodbye to San Mei, I handed her some toiletries I collected from our hotel stays as souvenirs.