Images from 1000 year old hamlet in rural China.

In October I went to China to visit family and during my two-week trip there my mother and  I ventured into the South Eastern province of Jianxi, a rural area full of farms, the city that originated blue painted porcelain ceramics to the world and of 1000 year old “postal roads”.  These trails, in-which mail was delivered,  meander thru and over lush mountain valley’s connecting isolated ancient villages.  We did a 9 mile hike (uphill by mistake…sorry mom!.) and ended in Big Liking, one of a handful of hamlet style villages surrounding the small city of Wuyuan.  I was struck by the architecture, the serenity, the simplicity, the human shit used for fertilizer.  We walked around this tiny village and others nearby for two days and these are my images.

Graffiti carved in moss

Inside an 800 year old Hall.

The Postal Roads that we hiked on. We had come from 10 miles back up and over that valley.

Antique barber chair.

The middle room, open to the sky, of a typical home.

Survey of the Foods of China

Drying meat in the Jianxi Province.

The Chinese classic and it was perfect: Slightly charred fried green beans with garlic and chicken in a light brown sauce. Shanghai.

Head Cheese. (wondering what the character means for Head Cheese. Just learned that Chinese words are formed by combining different words into one character. Might word for Head Cheese be the combination of: brains, repulsive, congealed and waste not?)

An employee meal in Jingdezhen (where Chinese blue and white porcelain obtained its finest form 1700 years ago). Food of note: far left, an amazing shredded fried potato dish, the classic and my favorite, sautéed greens with garlic and a pancake with scallions.

Green tea.

Wide array of tofu in a fantastic, local only market in Suzhou.

Curried lamb soup with hand-pulled noodles. Incredible curried fried rice at rear. I recently discovered Arabic influenced Chinese cuisine after reading a hilarious Sunday Routine in the NYT with Gary Shteyngart. I have been eating quite a bit in NYC but was a bit surprised to find it so prevalent. Loads of curry, lamb, skewers of bbq'd meats, hot fresh bread.

Shucked nuts

Attacking a stalk of sugarcane on a local bus from Wuyan to Guanxi in the Jianxi province..

Rice stuffed lotus root in sweet sauce.

Barrel baked bread. Coal bricks in the center, fresh dough (at left) is stuck to the interior walls and bakes in less than 2 minutes. Two types: One round piece stuffed with honey, the other an oval shape with scallions. One piece cost about 8 cents.

Another incredible bread dish. This fried bread with sesame seeds was served piping hot and one had the choice of a brushing of a spicy red pepper sauce. 15 cents for the bag.

30 types of Rice Wine. Two main types, dark or clear. The dark was similar to a tasty port. Clear was like moonshine. Some were quite expensive.

One of the best dished I had in China (though my stomach would dispute this the next day). Small whole fish in an extremely spicy pepper sauce. I would open up the fish with one chop stick and pull out the whole spine in tact, meat falling away. Must of eating 10. Washed down with lots of terrible Chinese beer which color could not have been a lesser yellow.

Egg sandwich from street vendor. Incredible sandwich I had waited 14 years to have again. A crepe batter with egg, scallions, sweat bean sauce, spicy pepper sauce, cilantro and fried wonton cracker folded over itself. Larger blog post devoted solely to this breakfast miracle in coming days.