One of the reasons we booked a guided tour for our time in Longji was that they were able to organise for us to have a meal in the home of a Zhuang Minority family. This was a great experience and we felt privileged to be able to get a peek into the everyday lives of a family who has lived for many generations in their home amongst the rice terraces.
Heading into the village. The village has set themselves up somewhat for tourism with some helpful signs and public toilets, but we didn't see many tourists here. There were far more towards the other end of our hike.
The village. So pretty.
There were chickens everywhere. Clara was fascinated.
Clara having a turn at grinding the rice. You jump up and down on the 'see-saw', which pushes a piece of wood in and out of the rice.
Part of our lunch. Bamboo filled with rice and chicken, cooked over a fire. It was delicious. All of the dishes were really tasty.
The bamboo right after it had come off the fire. This is how the family cooks their meals.
Getting ready to eat. That is our guide in the green and yellow jacket.
Ethan feeling satisfied after a big meal. There was far more than we could eat! You can see the fire pit to Ethan's left.
The Mother of the home leading Clara down the stairs, so we could see this...
There were pigs on the bottom level of the house. We were told that they are kept underneath the level where the families sleep (there were three generations living in this house), so that the heat from the pigs helps to keep the occupants upstairs warm. The pigs were pretty much directly underneath where we ate. Clara thought the pigs were pretty cool. The kids were able to feed them some vegetables.
Clara entertaining us with her impression of a chicken.
While we were here we learnt that a lot of the younger generation are leaving the villages to work in the cities where they can earn more money. It made me wonder what will become of these villages into the future and whether this method of rice farming will remain economically viable. As we drove past different types of crops, our guide told us how much those crops would sell for (she is a farmer herself). It isn't a lot of money. The farmers live simple lives, but now with other forms of employment available I wonder how many young people will choose that simple life.
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