So long Longyan... and China

It was an early start today, up at 5:20am to get the train to Longyan, five and half hours from Shanghai. After the train arrived we meet our final guide Adam who drove us to our next hostel a traditional mud house. Adam is a local who clearly takes a lot of pride in his people and his culture. He enthusiastically tells us about the Hakka and Hokkien people, two groups he refers to as the ancient Chinese. Originally part of the Han people from the north, due to continuous tensions with Mongolia over the centuries, many of these people who originated from the northern mountains moved to the Longyan region. Their names Hakka and Hokkien mean people who live on borrowed land, their rural cultures are still strong with many of the locals still speaking Hakka and Hokkien, two of the many subsets of the Chinese languages that were around before the unification of the language. Adam says that many of the youth now speak Mandarin, the unified language, but many of the older generation still only speak their original Hakka and Hokkien. Adam himself is Hokkien and is unable to understand the Hakka language. The area we are staying in is a place known to be on the border of where these two tribes settled and as such is a mixture of both.

Once we had dropped our bags and had a quick shower the group went for a walk around the village viewing some traditional mud round houses. These houses were originally created as a defence technique allowing for a family to all live together in a somewhat fortified home, this was needed when originally trying to settle in other people’s land. Many still have families living in them, if only the older generation, as many of the younger generation have to go to the cities for work. However, some stand abandoned only attended on religious holidays when ancestors need to be honoured. As well as speaking the original languages, a lot of the people in the surrounding villages still have a strong sense of religion and lineage to their ancestors and believe in the tradition of honouring them. During our walk we also get to see some old school farming techniques, such as a device used to separate rice grains from their husks.

Traditional living

The next day we awake to move to a hostel across the way, at first I was confused as to the change, but when told I had my own room I didn’t question it. After a quick breakfast we went out on another walk to explore a different part of the village, making our way to an area with a more commercialised mud house that has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. Inside, the first floor, which was traditionally used as the area for kitchens and everyday living, has been turned into shops that sell a variety of goods from paintings to local snacks. Our group doesn’t buy anything but enjoys the chance to have a wander inside and learn more from Adam about the importance of respecting ancestors in local culture. After the walk we head back to the hostel for a rest before heading out for a hike.

Tea Farm

The next day starts with a bike ride. Tom attempts to get on one of the bikes for about 10 seconds and does surprisingly well but is clearly scared and decides to sit in the van for the trip. It is a lovely cycle through the countryside and mountains. We stop off at a local village to see an ancestral shrine with stone pillars out front. Adam says that traditionally it is very hard to get a pillar and one has to achieve truly great things to get the honour and often it is only allowed after your death. But in this particular village they have somewhat relaxed the criteria and allowed more to go up. Although the example Adam gives us is of a man who created the biggest business in the area, a tea plantation, and did lots and lots of charitable good and became a global ambassador for the local area, doesn’t sound like a reduction in criteria to me!

Refreshing Dip

Traditional farming

Ah tea

Winnowing machine
(click on the top right hand icon)

After the tour Adam took us to a mini lagoon with a small waterfall where Tom and I take a dip, Adam says he would join but can’t swim. The water is pretty cold but very refreshing. Both Tom and I agree that jumping in made us more awake than we had felt in days. After, we head back to the hostel for a quick bite to eat before an early night’s sleep.

We start the hike on a old trade route over the mountain, this used to be walked to enable trade with the village on the other side of the mountain, before the infrastructure there is today. At the top we walk among many tea farms, most now left and overgrown due to their hard to reach nature. But some are still obviously tended to, with rows of neatly trimmed tea bushes. Adam offers to take us up to the top of the next mountain but the others aren’t feeling up for it, as it would take an additional four hours, so we head back down to the village. Once back we get to join the hostel owner to go and feed their pigs; they are incredibly cute. However, this doesn’t stop us all enjoying dinner less than an hour later, which included pork! After dinner it is movie night. Adam says he is going to show us a movie that is accurate in its portrayal of China’s respect of ancestors and religion. After this he un-ironically puts on Mulan the Disney movie which the group is really happy about: having had the song ‘Make a man out for you’ collectively stuck in our heads for last two weeks! After Mulan it is still a little early so Adam whips out the Karaoke and we spend the next couple hours butchering tunes with a few beers before heading to bed to fall asleep to the sound of cicadas.

Cute but tasty pigs feeding
(click on the top right hand icon)

When we finish the bike ride a few villages over, Adam allows Tom and me to sit in the back of the flatbed truck for some of the journey, that is until we hit a town with loads of traffic police due to an official visiting. Adam asks about people’s opinion of politicians back home to which Tom and I say in unison “hated”. Adam says they are revered in an almost celebrity like status in China, but then corrects himself saying that most of that comes out of fear rather than admiration. Once back Adam teaches us some basket weaving with bamboo strips that I am awful at and don’t last long at at all. After this we try some local flower, oolong and black teas, they are delicious. Tom keeps noticing that I perk up massively after a caffeine injection in the form of tea, I have to say I have been surprised by the lack of tea that has been available to me in China. Adam likes to say that without Longyan there would be no America, stating that the tea thrown from the ships at the Boston Tea Party was shipped from the local area. After the tea we have another dinner in the hostel before staying up playing cards having said our goodbyes to Adam. It is essentially the end of the tour as the rest of the trip is a travel day back to Hong Kong and then our flights early the next day. As such we spend some time reminiscing about the month gone by before retiring for the night, knowing we have to deal with immigration at the border again tomorrow and so will need all our energy.