About an hour North of Shanghai we visited a unique ancient village built during the Ming Dynasty, 1571. It is called River Town. It was great to get out of the city and see the country. On the way there, our guide told us that the governement builds the best homes near the expressways so people traveling on them would have a better perception of China. He said if you ventured further in, it is not so nice. Everytime I wanted to take a picture of a really old farmhouse along the expressway, all of a sudden a fence would pop up blocking my view...."verrrry curious" I said to myself. It was a very cold blustery day, but at least the rain held off. In River Town we visited a 200 year old pharmacy still making its herbal potions and medicines. It sells snake oil which I momentarily thought of buying. We saw an old post office that is a museum now with the old postal boats out back on the river. We had a boat ride through the city. We met a few adorable children...as always. One boy had a big smile and yelled "Hello! How are you?" and I said back, "Hello, I am fine. Thank you. It is a lovely cold day today, isn't it?" and he just looked at me speechless. His Dad answered with a smile, "Yes, it is". :) We had some free time here but it was way too cold to really enjoy it. The streets were narrow stone paved paths. No cars. The houses were whitewashed and had black-tiled roofs. Every store sold the same thing. About half the stores were making pig legs? Didn't smell that great. Everything was washed in the river...clothes, mops, dishes, food.....you name it..... :) ewwwww .... I felt that if the boat we were riding in went over the water would kill us. Clothes were hung on the balconies and in the windows to dry. It is a city still thriving and in use today. The children, as always...are so sweet when they are young. They are dressed brightly and always a smile and a wave 'Hello".
No comments:
Post a Comment