The real China

After our trip down the Li river, we got to do something amazing. We took some open-air mini-buses (they were described as golf carts, but were more than that) out into the Chinese countryside. This was our first experience away from the Chinese cities and it was a real eye-opener. We were told that despite the wealth of the big cities, 60% of China’s population still lives in these rural areas, generally under developing world conditions.

 

 

We ventured into the rice fields, though we noticed there was not as much rice growing as usual. We were told that the farmers used to use every inch of land to plant rice, but now they use much of their ground to plant mandarin oranges, corn, and melons – which are less labor intensive than rice. That’s because there are not enough laborers to work the fields any more. Here is a beautiful shot Gary took of rice plants. Those little seed-like things coming off the plants are pods containing grains of rice.

 

 

The reason there is not enough labor for the farmers is that the young adults of the villages are fleeing to the cities where they get higher paying jobs. We saw a sign in a village advertising jobs in a factory for anyone aged 18 – 54. The rate was about $150-$250 dollars per month, an absurdly low salary to us in the West but way more than the $1000 or so dollars per year that a farmer makes. The result of all this is that we only saw two types of people in the village – the very young and the very old.

 

 

Speaking of the very young, Kathy took out some of her Twizzlers to share with the children of the village. She and I are known as the Candy Couple because we have been giving Twizzlers, M&Ms, and Sweet Tarts to everyone to keep spirits up. Anyway, the problem with our American candy is that Chinese kids don’t like it. Sweet Tarts and Twizzlers are an acquired taste, I guess. So, the kids flocked around Kathy to get a Twizzler and then some of them spit the candy out because the licorice tasted bad.