Hey Hey and a Big G’Day toya,

Don’t you just feel more than a little queasy when one of your best friends in life gives in and says; I think he is a good man, he is a Police man. Maybe I will love him when we get married. Now I must do the right thing for my family because they are getting older. I'm so glad I'm not a female from rural China, no not all have this thrust upon them by their family but at the same time Spring Festival is a hell of a time for any single person here in China, especially those from rural areas.

At home, my sisters and female friends can marry who they damn well please.

Finally, after several days of trying a week ago I left the Nanchang bus station with a ticket south that would return me to one of my most favourite areas in all of China, the north western tip of Fujian Province where I lived and taught for two and a half years in the little mountain town of Shaowu. What I thought would be only a three to four hour bus journey actually ended up being almost eight.

From snow to snow, here though;
There is more than enough lovin’ warmth to be shared.

Due to freezing cold temperatures most of the week’s daylight hours were spent sleeping and reading as no one wanted to leave their apartments to join Frosty the Snowman throw snowballs at little children as they passed by. Once the neon’s light the towns muddy streets we would all meet at the local chicken eatery for coffee and head to the restaurant of choice for that evening. Be it a large Hot Pot restaurant or a small (friend’s) family run eatery, we would all clink our chopsticks over far too much beer and MeiJiu (warm rice wine with egg). 


Not wanting the nights to end, after dinner we would then all catch snowy Tuk Tuks to a different persons home each night and go about devouring truckloads of street bbq (inc half duck heads, duck tongues, pig’s feet, snails etc) and more beer and around three in the morning we would squeeze as many people onto the two scooters we had and head home to the warmth of our beds.

Thankfully there were two snow free days, sadly though no one knew the night prior so getting a call before lunch time was a little bit ‘how’s ya mother’ but after a half a cup of hot water filled with three well rounded tea spoons of coffee the days became bearable. Ting Tings father knew I was in town and we were both eager to sit and share baijiu (rice wine) over a family lunch cooked by Ting and her mother. Thankfully though he had been up since five in the morning working at the family Fish Stall at the little market place so he was more than a little tired after several and downed his last before heading to bed for the afternoon.

This allowed me to skip the ‘totally smashed’ part of the afternoon.
But it was awesome to share a few after so many years between.

The following day we spent at Ting Tings Aunties village (around a half an hour’s journey into the countryside from Guangze Town) for a delicious village lunch. When we arrived I was like’ Hey Ting, you never told me the village had a Wind & Rain Bridge. I spent an entire Winters Beers N Noodles Adventure in the north east of Fujian several years ago chasing these bridges and the following summers Beers N Noodles Adventure travelling Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi province doing the same.  

Oh yes (she said) the villagers are proud of their bridge, it is very old.

The following is partially from one of my past blogs from the Min Dong Region of Fujian.
Along with some information gathered during our village lunch.

Famous in the county for its unique elegance (bridge), the locals like to say:
Mountain, water, bridge and pavilion constitute a harmonious picture.

This bridge along with all the other remaining Wind & Rain Bridges in Fujian continue to play a significant role in village life and each day the villagers still cross them with farming tools in hand to carry out their normal day to day farming life. When not working the fields and while their buffaloes chew grass on the river banks the locals can be found relaxing and playing chess on the bridges and on humid summer nights many villagers continue to sleep on the bridges in the comforts of the cool breeze attracted by the river below.  

The bridges are often connected with religion and there is a local saying; 
Where there is a bridge can be found a temple.
The temple is usually found at one end of the bridge and will normally be a Buddhist or Taoist Temple where locals choose to continue to worship gods originating from their local folktales. Built without a single piece of metal, one of these bridges takes a long time to build. The ancient Chinese believed gods exist everywhere in nature, so before they cut down trees to build their bridges they would offer sacrifices to the gods of the mountain. Secondly a Feng Shui master would then choose the location for the bridge as it is believed that that bridges built upstream of a settlement help repel evil and those built downstream will help accumulate wealth.  

Construction usually starts in autumn when water levels are low. 

Upon completion a ceremony is held during which the workers and villages unite and dance while singing their local folk songs. After the ceremony, a local villager who is recognised for having good luck is asked to cross the bridge first in order to bring good fortune to everyone. The worker in charge of construction is called ‘main rope’ while his assistant is known as the ‘assisting rope’ and they are the only workers to have their names printed on the bridge's main beam. 

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane

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The soundtrack to this entry was by The Underground Lovers 
The album was 'Dream It Down'
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