Reluctant Relocator: Elizabeth harvests rice Nov 2, 2010

Not really, I only went to observe and learn. I just wanted a catchy title.

We, some members of the Shanghai Expat Association (SEA), went to a village called Gong Ping, about an hour away from Shanghai. SEA had arranged the tour with the villagers and they were so excited to see us. We were welcomed like visiting dignitaries. Gong Ping's economy is based on small-scale agriculture and brick-making. The village hopes to bring in money as well by creating a canal, allowing ships from the nearby East China Sea to unload their cargos there. The canal would obviously mean huge changes for the tiny village.

Here is a photo of the canal-to-be.

It's safe to say that there's a lot of work still to be done.

Approaching the village

Local houses

One with a pagoda, the Chinese version of a deck

These were the homes of well-to-do villagers.

A freshly harvested rice field, with unharvested one next to it.

How did this happen? Good question, especially for a city girl like me.
Here's how it was done.

First, the rice had to be ready to be harvested. You can tell it was by the way the stalks were bending over.

Then the rice was reaped with a rented machine shared by the villagers.

All of us getting a good look at the harvester. I must admit, I was mesmerized.

The other side where the rice kernels (I think that's what they're called) go into bags after being separated from the stalks. The stalks were spat out onto the field. I could have watched this all day.

As the harvester went along, there was a woman collecting the spewed-out stalks. I guess they use them for fuel. She used a knife to cut the ones that the harvester had missed. Strictly old school for her. Hmmm. She had a remarkably cheerful attitude.

Full bags of rice

Finally, the bags of rice were carried away to be dried. Yes, these women carried those heavy bags (50kg) to the cart that took them to the drying areas. And I complain about grocery bags.

Rice, "green rice" at this stage, was seen drying on any flat surface in the village.

Old school methods being employed once again.

That's a well she was resting spreading her tools on.

She wasn't the only one with a well. Here's another one.
Shades of "The Ring", yes?

We continued our tour of the village and came across children at their pre-school. We caused quite a disruption in their routine. Sorry, teacher!

So cute.

Drawings on the school walls

Other crops grown

Some type of bean/pea? What do I know? I'm just a city girl!

It was pretty though.

A variety of legumes

Sweet potatoes and squash

Oranges! In November! It was just like Florida!
Now I know why these little citrus fruits are sometimes called mandarins....aaahhhh...

They tasted a little tarter than what I was used to.

Chicken a l'orange, anyone?

There was also sugar cane.

Interior shots

Note the bags of rice

Various villagers

This fellow accompanying us was an official from the village. Yes, that's rice drying in the background. It really was everywhere.

Proud farmer in front of his home

His dad...

...and his son

Another cutie. So adorable!

Sitting on...you guessed it, a bag of rice.

We had lunch at the same place where this boy was playing, jumping from bag to bag. I caught him during some downtime. After eating, we walked along a small river to a different part of the village to check out the brick factory.

Different views at various points along the river

An old house...

...a new house

One house that pretended to have indoor plumbing...

...but it really didn't. I was afraid to ask where the toilet emptied. You can guess.

Many homes had steps that lead down to the river for easier access to fishing.

I don't know if this boat still went out.

This one did though.

After a bit of a walk, we made it to the brick factory. We couldn't take photos inside the factory for some reason. Maybe the Chinese were afraid we'd copy their design? Here's the smokestack instead with broken bricks in the foreground.