CHINA: The Tea Way - 2 Huangshan Mount - Luzhou

China — is the homeland of tea. Tea is grown and produced here, it is tasted and drunk, advertised and sold. The production technology and traditional ways of consumption of tea have strongly intertwined with the Chinese mentality and religion. It is possible to understand it only in the context of the full structure of Chinese life. It will also become the main goal of our travel across the southern provinces of China - from Shanghai to Chengdu. We will visit large highly modern megalopolises and small villages, the tourist centers and godforsaken places, mountains and the oceanic coast, palaces and huts, tea plantations and factories, museums and tea shops, Buddhist and Taoist monasteries and temples, tea ceremonies and tea houses. Everywhere, where tea is grown, made and consumed. In China it is done all over the place. So let's get on our way. There is an old Chinese saying: "If you visit the five sacred mountains, then you won't need to go into mountains any more. And, after having visited the Huangshan Mount, there is no need to go to either of those five mountains". The City of Shexian, situated on the southern slopes of the Huangshan Mounts, in the riverheads of Xinanjiang, was a large cultural center in the Middle Ages. Now, it is the museum-city of classical Chinese architecture. Not only Chinese live in China. There are representatives over 100 nationalities and ethnic minorities. In the Town of Daceyun, most of the population are not Chinese. Here live the representatives of "She" people — one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic minorities. These people have their own territory, however small - the Tszinin-Shesky autonomous county. The Town of Daceyun is very small. There is only one cobble-stone paved street, built up with shabby stalls and several lanes, branching from it. The source of welfare is the river. It is good for fishing. And in recent years, they also organize rafting for tourists. In the southwestern part of the Province of Fujian, each family or clan of Hakk people lives in one common house, more similar to a fortress. They use regular earth as the construction material. The first earth fortresses appeared in the 10th century. They were called "tulou". These constructions, original by their form and construction technology, turned out so solid and comfortable for living, that they had been built up till the end of the 20th century. The City of Zhanjiang is rather small according to Chinese scales. There are only seven million residents here. Tourists get here only when transiting on the way to Hainan Island. The second largest Island of China is in the South China Sea. It lies approximately at the same latitude, as the American Hawaii. It is the only tropical Island in China. There are no competitors to it and won't be any — as far as to a beach resort. In recent years, the Chinese try to bring to the island part of the foreign tourists, sunbathing in the resorts of Thailand and Vietnam. Haikou — the largest city of the Hainan Island, although rather small according to the Chinese scales — a little over one million people. The City of Guilin, located on the Lijiang River bank, is among the most popular tourist centers of China. There are several original dishes in Guilin. The most popular of them is the local rice noodles, well-known all over the country. From ancient times, people went down Lijiang River on bamboo rafts. Today, rafts are the most popular means of transport here. However, progress has reached here too. The bamboo has been gradually superseded by stronger plastic pipes, and oars and rowing poles replaced by motors, running on petrol. There is a popular Chinese saying: "It is the best of all to be born in Suzhou, to live in Hangzhou, to eat in Guangzhou, but to die … in Luzhou". This is the last city we've got to. Why is it considered, that exactly here it is most convenient to meet one's end? It appears, for the most trivial reason. There is a lot of good wood here, that is turned into quality and, most importantly, cheap coffins. So is it better or not, depends on how to look at it. But the fact is - it is cheaper. And for Chinese, it is important.