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September 16,
2000
10. Peasant villages and orange growers - besides DongTing Lake
An instructor of English and Chinese at HNU invited Kathy, Nancy, and I to visit his family home near Dongting Lake. His father works in a large orange orchard near the lake. We left Changsha in a heavily loaded van at 8:30 AM. Kathy in the front seat along with the driver, Nancy and I in the back, and four men in the middle of the van on a seat and a wooden bench. Three of the men spoke English. One of the men is and uncle of the teacher whose home we were visiting. Before the day was out it would remind us of Thanksgiving.
We arrived at the family home to be greeted by a smiling mother, father, and cousin. We immediately took a tour of a large and beautifully maintained orange orchard, and sampled delicious oranges right off the tree. The father is justly proud of the orchard. Last year some experts from Japan came to the orchard and advised them on cultivation techniques. We were taught how to properly harvest the oranges and ate some right off the tree. They are green and not as sweet as the oranges I eat in the States. They are very juicy, and will sweeten after they are picked a while.
We went back to the family home for a dinner consisting of a dozen different dishes, tea, and beer. The mother cooked a meal for 12 people on a single wok in a kitchen about 6 feet by 3 feet. She allowed us to watch her finish the meal preparations. We'd been sitting in a living room on small wooden chairs. The mother rolled a roundtable top into the room, it was place on supports, a lazy susan was placed upon it, and we pulled our chairs around the table and began to eat. The meal was wonderful. A series of very tasty dishes and soups, including fish just caught in the lake and fresh vegetable from their garden. During the meal several other relatives arrived to meet us. One cousin at the gathering said we were the first foreigners he had met and his heart was full to be able to be with us.
After lunch we walked into the village and took a public bus to the village near the Lake Dongting, which is the largest fresh water lake in China. We created quite a stir as we strolled through the village to the lake. People followed us and gathered around us and asked us questions. We hired a small fishing boat to take us out on the lake. We exited the boat in a different place and walked more village streets, stopping to chat with a noodle maker and a person making soft coal forms. The soft coal is moistened with water and then pressed into a form that forces it into a round shape with circular depressions. Then it is set in the sun to dry and used for cooking. The burning of this soft coal is one of the reasons for the serious air pollution problems that plague all of China.
As we walked toward town we passed by the high school the teacher attended and he asked us if we would like to see it. We, of course, were interested so we entered the school. Several classes were meeting so we stopped in and spoke to an English class. They were studying for exams and the entire class of 60 students was present on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at 3:00.
We hired a van to return us to the family home. We were warmly greeted and fed a meal of a hot bean soup and fresh melon. Then it was time for pictures as people were arranged in various combinations amid much laugher and teasing.
Few foreigners are privileged to spend time with a peasant family in the Chinese countryside. The people are poor. They live in cramped living quarters with no running water. Their life is full of hard physical labor, yet they are optimistic and cheerful. Their son is well educated and teaching English at a university. The family touched my heart deeply. Their generosity and interest in three foreign ladies will never be forgotten.
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