Noodles
Oct 29 2001

Noodles drying in the street amidst the dust of Guizhou province's largest town, Kaili.

Rice paddies
Oct 29 2001

The geography of Guizhou makes building a substantial rail system prohibitively expensive - the old saying about this poorest of China's regions is that it has not three coins to rub together, not three days of good weather and not three li of flat land. This has not stopped the intrepid rice farmer from turning every inch possible into cultivated rice paddies.

Zhaoxing skyline
Oct 31 2001

Each Dong village would construct one of these ornate Drum Towers to serve as a focal point for group activities. Zhaoxing is remarkable for it has five.

Nigel in a Drum Tower
Oct 31 2001

The drum towers also make a good place to sit out the rain while watching village life continue all around.

Pounding cloth
Oct 30 2001

The shiny purple cloth you see the Dong women wearing in some of these pictures is made through an interesting process. First died blue with indigo, a mixture of egg whites and blood is then applied before pounding it with a large wooden mallet.

Drying cloth
Oct 31 2001

The distinctive cloth in varying stages of completion, drying on a covered bridge in Zhaoxing

You're in my paddy, buddy!
Oct 31 2001

I heard that water buffalo don't like the smell of westerners, and they have a keen sense of smell. This may have been some teasing but it would explain this fellows obvious dislike for us.

China's greatest ambassadors
Oct 31 2001

I was quietly watching these children playing a game that involved hurling beanbags at one another with extreme force. When they saw me taking their picture I showed them the result on the display of my digital camera. I have enough space on the memory card for about 70 shots and I think even that many would not have bored them of posing for a picture, running over to shriek and laugh at the picture, running back to pose again and so on. Here are two of the better ones.

Smile!
Oct 30 2001

Sitting on a bus and fiddling with my camera, I drew the attention of the man across the aisle from me. I took his picture, at his request, and when I showed him the result on the camera's little screen, I received an even bigger grin. If that is possible.

Sugarcane for sale
Oct 30 2001

On the streets of Jinjiang

Towel dry
Oct 30 2001

Women of the Miao minority look, from left to right, unimpressed, apprehensive and mildy disgusted by yours truly.

Zhaoxing canal
Oct 31 2001

Zhaoxing was a beautiful town still very much unspoiled by obvious development. The guest house we stayed in had adequate modern conveniences without sacrificing the unique character of the place. The day a hotel room in rural China is indistinguishable from one in middle America is the day. . . well, I'm not sure what that day will be, but I think it will be a bad day.