Duanwu Festival (Part 1)

So the annual Dragon Boat Festival was June 4-6.  At Stella's invitation, the three of us hopped in a cab to meet Stella's friend, Joanna, at the races in nearby Yuecheng. Joanna had warned Stella it'd be a 15-20 minute walk to get there, so when the cab dropped us off in the parking lot and a policeman told us which way to go, we set off and were treated to quite a picturesque walk. Yuecheng is very rural, and is actually more of what Brian and I were expecting life to be like for us here in China.  I took a ton of pictures I want to share, so I'm actually going to do two separate posts to keep the size manageable.

No space is unused in Yuecheng--small vegetable gardens were everywhere

After about twenty minutes of walking, the empty streets probably should have been a warning sign to us....

Grapes everywhere--for eating, not wine

Yes, it's exactly what it looks like. An outhouse and cesspool. PLEASE tell me they don't fertilize with it!

Loved this girl's fake glasses

So we get to a T in the road, where more police officers are posted, and they tell us we've walked in the wrong direction! The first police officer must have thought we were leaving? So, we turn back around....

Roadside grave sites. They were everywhere, but Stella said this is no longer legal. 

I found it all very enchanting, not eerie at all. The people here clearly have very simple lives, but are living in such a beautiful place. But I definitely wonder what this means for all the crops planted next to the graves!

 

So 90 minutes late we finally arrive! To find everyone leaving because the morning races are over.  The stands were literally 100 yards from where we parked. Why on earth did the policeman give Stella the directions that he did?!?! And why did we not notice the hoards of people there before we walked off in the opposite direction?? As truly the ONLY foreigners there, Stella told us everyone in the audience was talking about us, assuming we were Russian, as the only non-Chinese boat entered in the competition was from Russia. So Stella calls up Joanna to find out where she's sitting. Turns out she's on the other side of the river....  read more