Pinch my bottom

No more cities! We are now in the Southwest of China, trying to avoid the crowds, and get into the minority villages that populate this area. Yesterday we saw a Yao and a Zhuang Village.

The Yao women never cut their hair: they wind it around and around their heads until it becomes a shiny helmet. Married women show this off; single women cover their hair. Also, according to someone we met, the locals pinch your bottoms in lieu of a handshake. He told us we should not call the police if that happened, and that we should feel free to pinch the bottoms of people we meet. I am not sure if he was just trying to get us in trouble, but I couldn't help feeling slightly disapointed that no one pinched my bottom.

We also visited a Zhuang village. They farm along the most amazing rice terraces. I'll let the pictures speak for me.

As expected, the villages that get tourists seem to be doing okay. The villages that do not...well don't. China's economy may be swiftly growing, but that's really only in the cities.

I'm writing this from Yangshou, along the Yi River. This is tourist haven. It's a little overwhelming, actually. Though the population is much lower than that of the cities (oh, you know only a million compared to 19 million), hordes of Chinese tourists clog the streets. There is simply not enough room in this country.