Their house is on the lower ridge, at center. The home on the upper ridge, to the left, was Zhang Li's grandfather's. The family has lived on this land for generations.
The house was so cozy and comfortable, with thick mud walls and a bin of hot coals under the table to keep us warm. The home has dirt and concrete floors, electricity on the first floor only, one cold-water spigot out the back door, and a privy. Water is heated over hot coals. We washed our clothes by hand and dried them over the hot coals. Meals were cooked in an iron wok over a fire. It was like camping, and we relished the simplicity and efficiency of living here. It was absolutely sublime!
Zhang Li's dad is the 5th-born son. He grew up on this hill, farming the land. Now he is a migrant worker, building high rises in another city and returning here only on holidays. He's a kind man who doesn't smoke or drink (highly unusual) and he sings to himself and nods off after dinner while watching TV. I like him! He spent a lot of time taking Titus around to visit the neighbors.
Zhang Li's mom is the second of two daughters. Her mother died of an illness when she was one year old, and her dad never remarried. She cared for Zhang Li until he was four years old, then went out to work as a seamstress. She's small, feisty, and never stops working, cooking three meals over a fire every day and constantly serving the family. I really appreciated her help with the kids and her good example as a very selfless mother.
New Year's meal consisted of smoked-bacon-like-fatty-pork, oil tofu puffs, bamboo shoots, chicken meat soup, pig foot soup, fried battered meat and smoked spicy fish. The dishes were truly mouth-watering, wow, we ate way too much.
In the evenings we sat around drinking tea, snacking, watching the New Year's performance on television and talking. We shared some really great times with Zhang Li. He is a true friend. Can't say enough about how much we jive with that guy.
Oh! And did I mention that Titus slept with Zhang Li every night? Is that not the sweetest thing? Mike & Jon slept between Drew and me.
New Year's day everybody goes out to visit neighbors and relatives, bringing wishes for a prosperous new year and leaving with a cigarette! Kids run around with bags collecting red envelopes with cash inside or candy. This village has a new tradition of giving kids milk boxes. Titus went out with Zhang Li's dad and came home with a bag full of milk boxes, candy and red envelopes containing 20 yuan.
Drew also dominated all the ten year-olds in a snowball war. We wandered around the village and the hilly country roads and trails. The boys lit off some fireworks.
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In sum, we had an unforgettable New Year's, thanks to our friend Zhang Li and his family. We hope to visit his village again in spring or summer.
I hope you'll find a moment to take in a few more sights from the village, on this slideshow:
Stories and pictures from past visits to rural China:
- a friend's family runs a fish pond and they'll cook and serve your fish for lunch
- we visited my good friend's home just a couple weeks before her grandmother passed away
- two sisters invited us to their home in a beautiful remote area
Wow Rachel! What amazing pictures! You have been accepted as family to be in a home like that. What a rich experience. My back aches for yours looking at the pictures of the kids slung on!
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ReplyDeleteIt looks so cold! I feel so spoiled to have heat in my house. I'm glad yall had a great CNY. :)
ReplyDeletethanks for your responses Aunt Mary Ann and Amber. my back usually doesn't hurt. that's good. so nice to hear from both of you.
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