Farewell to the noodle lady, Weishan.
WEISHAN The last stopover on our backpacking trip was the beautiful old town of Weishan, about 1.5 hours south of Xiaguan and also in Dali Prefecture. It was good fortune that led us to find Katrina, another 2008 College graduate, living here with her family. Since graduating from the English Department she has been unable to find a job, despite being an excellent, hard-working student with good grades. When we met up with her she was in the middle of a local government training programme to give unemployed graduates civil servant jobs in the countryside. After her training Katrina will be posted in a Weishan county village, to deal with disputes and help farmers optimise their output. She will re-take her teaching exam again this month and, on passing, the local government will not be unhappy to let her go. Not all of our unemployed graduates are cared for in the same way.
We found the Weishan local government to be great in many other respects. Their main achievement has been recognising the cultural and historical value of their old buildings, restoring them over the years to create one of the only authentically (really) old towns we have visited in China. Weishan has a history of visitors, mainly due to the proximity of the Wei Bao Shan ancient Taoist temple mountain, yet remains unspoiled. We were treated with polite curiosity, friendly welcome and sincerity - no cheating, no gawking and no laowai ('old outsider' i.e. 'foreigner') jeers. There are tight restrictions on new-builds (must be below a certain height and traditional style) and, what's more, the residents of Weishan are happy in their traditional wooden homes. This means they are well-maintained and, therefore, comfortable. We couldn't believe that all the delightful places we came across - noodle cafes in people's homes, craft shops, street food, temples - were all functioning for locals, not for tourists. If you were to take the tourists out of somewhere like Lijiang, there would be nothing left of the old town. It lives and breathes to make money out of the visitors. Weishan is an exception to the rule in Yunnan's rapidly growing tourist industry.
We found the Weishan local government to be great in many other respects. Their main achievement has been recognising the cultural and historical value of their old buildings, restoring them over the years to create one of the only authentically (really) old towns we have visited in China. Weishan has a history of visitors, mainly due to the proximity of the Wei Bao Shan ancient Taoist temple mountain, yet remains unspoiled. We were treated with polite curiosity, friendly welcome and sincerity - no cheating, no gawking and no laowai ('old outsider' i.e. 'foreigner') jeers. There are tight restrictions on new-builds (must be below a certain height and traditional style) and, what's more, the residents of Weishan are happy in their traditional wooden homes. This means they are well-maintained and, therefore, comfortable. We couldn't believe that all the delightful places we came across - noodle cafes in people's homes, craft shops, street food, temples - were all functioning for locals, not for tourists. If you were to take the tourists out of somewhere like Lijiang, there would be nothing left of the old town. It lives and breathes to make money out of the visitors. Weishan is an exception to the rule in Yunnan's rapidly growing tourist industry.
Karine modelling a useful finger trick.
At one of Wei Bao Shan's temples we came across Karine, a French Taoist monk who's just beginning her PhD as well as spiritual apprenticeship. Her commitment to her work is evident in that she joined a bunch of American undercover missionaries for years of language training in Xi'an. On asking if they knew whether she was Taoist, and what they thought, she replied: "Oh yes, they just said to me that one day I would find my way...that obviously I am still searching." Could a shared religious intolerance be what makes the CCP allow the missionaries, I mean English teachers (!), come to China in such numbers?
On arriving at the temple Ali noticed that the temple guard (Wang Ling Guan) was holding his fingers in a particular way - as demonstrated later by Karine [above]. Apparantly this gesture, done correctly, will help protect one from danger and ward off enemies. Frankly, by the time I got my fingers bent round the right way I'd have been robbed.
On arriving at the temple Ali noticed that the temple guard (Wang Ling Guan) was holding his fingers in a particular way - as demonstrated later by Karine [above]. Apparantly this gesture, done correctly, will help protect one from danger and ward off enemies. Frankly, by the time I got my fingers bent round the right way I'd have been robbed.
ALF with Katrina, her aunt and cousin at one of Wei Bao Shan's mountain temples. This is where we met Karine. The next temple we visited provides board and lodgings so we hope to return in October, if we can face the long bus journey North.
We spent a morning with this Weishan noodle maker, filming the whole process. It was fascinating and will soon be available on DVD! Before leaving Weishan we bought about 5 kilos of noodles to take back to friends in Simao and at lunch time we cooked some up with Katrina and her family. Well, her aunt did the cooking but we all helped to eat them!
ELF with Grandpa Li, Weishan.
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