July 23 - Huangguoshu Waterfall at Anshun

Ni Hao,

After journeying through the Zhijin Cave, which took about 2 1/2 hours, we traveled to Anshun. This is a city which is one of the gateways to ethnic minority villages. It is also near the Huangguoshu Waterfalls, which is the largest waterfall in Asia. I am noticing that "ranking" is very important here in China. People take pride in being the number one city, having the number one waterfall, living near the number one cave, etc.

As trekking through the Zhijin Cave was nothing like walking through any of the caves in America, the visit to the Huangguoshu Falls does not even resemble a Niagara Falls visit. First, you experience a bonsai garden, filled with azaleas, water lilies, and many types of bonsai plants and bushes. The garden is also graced with many beautiful statues, commemorating various notable people in Chinese history. There is nothing garish or gaudy about this garden. All is simplicity, grace, and beauty. Literally every turn of the path offers the gift of a new and lovely vision. Each small section is an entity unto itself, yet there is a sense of continuity and flow as you walk through this peaceful garden.

And this is just the beginning of the experience. After walking through the garden, you naturally move into the waterfall area. Again, the grounds are just beautiful, and even the pathways and the stairways have a quiet and peaceful feeling to them.

Along the journey, there are several ethnic groups offering to take your photo, in their traditional garb, of course. So, Nancy, Mr. Tang, and I donned very colorful traditional clothes, plumed out our layered skirts with our hands, and had ourselves photographed in front of the waterfall. As a brief aside, these traditional costumes looked much more comfortable on me than the regal queen-wear with the 16th century ruff collar that I tried on when my husband and I traveled in Scotland. This photo here in Anshun is an absolute treasure... round hat with fringe, and all!!! Mr. Tang looks like a very noteworthy king. As another aside, we have taken to calling Nancy "the queen," as she has taken on the role of my mama in matters of illness and stomach troubles associated with new foods and circumstances when traveling here. Hence, I became the "princess" in this royal photograph.

Once our dress-up picture session ended, we decided to take the full journey around and in back of the falls. This involved more stairs than I can possibly count, but again, the construction of the stairways was accomplished in a most graceful and foot-friendly way - most of the time, at least.

At one point, shortly before you enter the narrow path that leads to the single-file walkway behind the falls, the plastic poncho-selling hawkers emerge. We had a bit of trouble stretching the smallish ponchos over our tall, much larger American bodies, but we covered our backpacks and cameras, thus protecting them from the strong spray coming off the falls.

I was amazed to see very petite women in high heeled shoes and dresses navigating these slippery pathways. I had on my comfortable, waterproof trekking shoes, and I still had numerous moments of near slip and fall. By the way, the steps here are designed for feet that are much daintier than my own. I come from solid Eastern European peasant stock, and my feet, I think, were meant to plod through potato fields. I have always been known as a "sturdy" woman.

The smell of fish around the falls was strong and sometimes overpowering, but the visual panorama wafted my nose away from the fishy air. After walking behind the falls, through a very narrow and slippery cave area, we emerged onto the foot bridge. This bridge is only about eight feet wide, and all the young people commenced to swaying the whole seemingly flimsy structure as they traveled across its surface. For those who have driven with me, you know I have a somewhat irrational fear of flying off bridges when I am driving. Well, this swaying walking bridge engraved new fears into my feet, my heart, and my stomach. It took all I had to make it across the bridge as it was moving back and forth. Nancy reached the other side long before I did and had a bellyache of a laugh watching me try to negotiate my way across the bridge as I tried to cling to the ropes on the side. Mr.Tang crossed the bridge several minutes after us, as he was still taking photos by the waterfall. The sight of him coming at us across the bridge reminded me of a totally free and uninhibited child, for he was jumping and bouncing across the bridge with the other slap-happy young people. There is much joy and animation in Mr. Tang's face, always.

After the bridge, we had the option of hiking our way back up thousands of steps or taking the Grand Elevator. My knees were screaming after a day in the cave and a day at the waterfall, so I opted for the Grand Elevator. Nancy and Mr. Tang accompanied me, without much complaint. I have never seen such a long and elaborate elevator. Signs along the way declared that the elevator was manufactured by Mitsubishi.

By the way, we did have a bit of trouble gaining access to a hotel in Anshun. We had reserved a room at one very nice hotel, but when we arrived we were told that they do not allow foreigners to stay at the hotel. We went to about 8 different hotels before finding one with vacancy that would house foreigners. We were told that the hotel had to meet certain standards to be rented by foreigners. We were a bit befuddled because many of the hotels looked like perfectly fine accommodations. Nancy and I ended up staying in one hotel, after the manager arranged some shifting of guests to provide us a room with two beds. The staff was very gracious and accommodating. I wanted to hug the western-style toilet in the room. Mr. Tang and his driver ended up staying at another hotel, a bit less expensive, that didn't house foreigners.

"Expensive" is clearly relative. Our hotel translated into approximately $62 for the night, and this was a four star hotel. In a major city, this kind of room would cost at least $400, so we felt like we got a real bargain.

I will close for today because I am trying to get to bed before my usual 1:00 a.m. here. I vowed to get some extra sleep tonight, as I have been very tired, especially with the heat and humidity. Being with the students, though, is an energizing boost every single day. I delight in their enthusiasm and their insatiable curiosity about Westerners. This program is absolutely marvelous because it focuses on building relationships, person to person, every day. I feel so very fortunate to have made so many new friends.

I leave you with the Pinyin of a Chinese saying: yu ri ju zeng. This means, "to increase with each passing day" and often applies to the strengthening or deepening of a relationship. This is the gift that all of my students here in Bijie have given to me, and I am so grateful to them for their open hearts...