China Blog #58

China Blog #58

Next the day it was overcast and once again I walked along route G104 which took me up a mountain. Sometimes it's a tough job knowing the names of mountains and villages here in China as my Google Maps and Maps.me maps are not always clear. When I ask someone they usually give the name of a nearby city even when I ask for the place it is they often respond with the nearest metropolis. Sometimes there is a bilingual sign but not always.

I had yet another absolutely amazing village experience after my 34-kilometre day when I stopped at a village called Nanshancun and when I stopped for some pot noodles in a store people crowded in. It was like I knew the people all of my life. I was welcomed like a lost son. It's strange that when I'm on the road that people are not as engaging and often my greetings are ignored but once I'm sitting down its a whole different and unique experience. They had stacks of yellow bundles of fake money to burn as this is part of the Chinese New Year festivities and the season is drawing to a close. 

An old man with a stereotypical long white beard wrote me a long letter and I couldn't translate it as I had a poor mobile data signal. Almost as though I lived there I asked for the password for their wifi. A young girl said she didn't know it and I told her to check the label under the router box, so she did and took a photo and I was connected up. Still, then I couldn't translate the old man's message as the photo translate option was mysteriously unavailable. So I gathered he just wanted to know where I was from.. And that was the first question I answered, lol So much patience needed for China but so much fun can be had. 

Then I was whisked off to a temple for the burning of the fake money ceremony. I mentioned that last week in Taipei. But along the way, we met four women in strange costumes and I had my photo taken with them.. Outside the temple, someone let off a volley of firecrackers and I playacted like I was shot. That got the children all laughing. Inside the temple, there was a lot of food offerings and I was ravenous and would love to eat some but obviously, I couldn't!  It's the year of the pig and a pigs head was on display.. 

Then I returned to the store and another large crowd were waiting for me while others played away on a board game.

I settled down to sleep in my sleeping bag and on my air mattress in a shelter in the village.