Monday, February 22, 2010

The Most Beautiful Village in China

posted by Alan
click on the pictures to see them full-sized
click on the link at the bottom to see a full photo album

So our goal for this trip was adventure, rugged travelling and incredible scenery and that's exactly what we got. The 20 hour train ride to Hunan was brightened by some good conversation, new Chinese friends and a constant barrage of New Years Eve firework displays in the countryside as we rode by. It was a pretty unique experience. It was Myself, Daisy and our friends Beverly(NJ) and Nikita(Clifton, NJ by way of Jamaica).

Part 1 - Pandora

We took the train directly to the city of Zhang Jia Jie (张家界), a mid sized city in Western Hunan province that is surrounded by mountain ranges and is host to the famous Zhang Jia Jie National Forest Park. Our plan was to find our hostel tucked away inside the park and spend two days exploring the trails and ridiculously shaped mountains. Yes, these are the mountains that the Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora from the movie Avatar were inspired by. Looking at the peaks from above with a layer of fog and mist, it really did look like the mountains were floating just like in the movie. It was a great few days of extreme cold, no running water and mountain hiking.

Part 2 - The Village
After two nights on the mountain, we packed our bags and made the journey from ZJJ to a place that we found only mentioned on a few online travel blogs. Described as "the most beautiful village in china" and "a scene from a fairy tale," the scenery just became more and more amazing as our bus made its way through the Hunan countryside. Buildings and people gave way to distant mountains and layers of green farming terraces. The village of De Hang(德 夯)is a Miao minority village built into a mountain valley and is a true hidden treasure of China. It's a farming town of about 500 people and numerous cows, chickens, ducks and pigs roaming around. Without a doubt, the most quaint, beautiful and peaceful place I've been to in China.

We checked into our family run guest house and spent four days trekking mountain trails, eating local Hunanese food, enjoying the quaintness of the village and getting to know the locals. Daisy couldn't stop saying how much she loved being there while playing with the local children and their fireworks, dodging cows and their droppings and really relaxing. We were even "treated" to the annual Chinese New Year festival that brought 10,000 people from all over Hunan to the village for the day to eat, play games and celebrate their traditional Miao culture.


On our final night in De Hang, we went to our favorite little restaurant for dinner where we were now friends with the owners. As we were eating, we heard what sounded like a movie playing from the village square. We were also wondering why there we no kids running around. We finished eating and walked over to the square, where someone had set up a large screen and the locals were watching the new movie 'Confucious' starring Chow Yun Fat. Of the incredible things we saw on this trip, the scene in the picture below was my favorite. I realized that while the natural wonders of this earth are awe-inspiring, its the people of and the communities that we build that are the most lasting. What the people in that village have is true community and it was beautiful and heartwarming to see.

So, we're back in the Hai after a tiring, cold, dirty (none of us showered the entire trip) and totally satisfying trip. As Beverly put it, it made her "fall in love all over again with rural China, reading, and train travel."

If you'd like to hear more about our trip, feel free to ask us anytime, or you can just take a look at the pictures (fully captioned!) here: HUNAN 2010 PICTURE ALBUM

Response to comments:
Lin - Pictures are there for ur viewing pleasure. Why live vicariously? Come back to Asia.
Eric - which eric is this? And yes, we were in Pandora.

5 comments:

  1. Sounds so awesome! I can't wait to get back to China!

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  2. Did I ever tell you guys that I'm so jealous of what you guys are doing?! Well I am, I'll just live through you guys for now... Have you guys ever tried that "special meat"?

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  3. Wow...I am so jealous of your trip! And the food you eat! Will have to make the trip out there when Noah's older. :)

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  4. Alan & Daisy,
    That last trip you guys made to Hunan and the mountains was incredible. The pictures made us feel as we were there with you. When you mentioned Pandora it was funny because we had just seen "Avatar" the day before. We're so envious of you. Stay healthy and safe.
    Love,
    Uncle Willie and Aunt Ellen

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  5. hi Alan & Daisy,
    I haven't been keeping up with your adventures lately, but I'm glad to hear (& see) that you're having a good time in China. Thanks for also sharing the pictures! I've never been to the rural part of China, but your pictures are giving me a good idea of what the landscape is like. stay strong.

    Calvin Leung (Toronto, Canada).

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