Tai Shan - Lew Village

Alan and I are back in Bangkok and are trying to get the rest of the postings from the China part of the trip posted.

Thailand, unlike Hong Kong and the US is very WiFi friendly. Free connections are available in the hotels and just about anywhere you go (shopping malls, theaters, even on the streets). Internet cafes are all over for about 75 cents an hour.

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On Saturday, 14 Nov. we headed to Tai Shan from Shenzhen. The bus ride was about three and a half hours long, which included a pit stop.

The city of Tai Shan has grown tremendously and is virtually unrecognizable from what we remembered from our trip in 1986.

After asking for directions a couple of times, we arrived at our hotel (again with an Italian theme) and checked-in.

After a quick rest, and clean-up, we board our bus and head for the Lew Village.

The buildings are spaced about four feet apart.

Our first view of the Lew Village from the bus. Relatives are seen coming to greet us.

Vegetables drying in the village.

The group arriving at the Lew Village.

Alan in the kitchen. Although most of the homes are still equipped with wood or coal burning stoves, many have additional propane cook tops as well.

Inside the main room of the house under the shrine.

Come 0n, everyone into the picture.

Lindsay, Dad and Mom on the roof.

A view from above. A ceremonial "by seen".

On the roof of the house.

left to right: One of the villagers in her North Face down jacket (could be a relative), Our escort relative from a neighboring village (I believe he lives in San Francisco), Auntie May and Faye.

Not sure if this is the front entrance or back.

Inside Lindsay's house. Spare furniture in the loft.

Ed and Bunny strolling the village.

The village is a cluster of structures about nine buildings long by two buildings deep. None are more than two stories high.

A village feast was put on for us with all the usual dishes (chicken, duck, shrimp, veggies, sai fun, pork legs, and other dishes).

Here is part of our group with some of the villagers waiting around for food to be served.

right to left: Sabrina's Mom, three of the villagers, Mom, Sabrina, Bunny, Lindsay.

We had a late lunch in the village after all the ceremony. Bev wasn't the only daring one. I believe most of us ate. It was pretty good too, not too many flies. We of course had no qualms about digging to the bottom of the dishes, or even turning the dishes over onto other plates to get to the food at the bottom.

There were pups.

Rice is still grown around the village although there are few farmers remaining.

We were told that less than 45 people inhabited the buildings in the village.

This is the Summer House located at one end of the village, away from the other buildings.

Not everyone was prosperous enough to have a Summer House. This one is used now as a storage building for the few villagers still remaining there.