Ok... so we had seen several gentlemen guiding their very narrow bamboo rafts along the Li River, oftentimes delivering vegetables to the shore or to the cruise boats. Now we had an opportunity to ride down the river on a bamboo raft with a paddle man as our companion.
Sad to say, being larger than the average Chinese person, Scott and I were not able to be on the same bamboo raft. This caused me a brief moment of internal dietary angst, but I let those troubles float on down the river and decided to simply enjoy the ride. Our paddle men spoke no English, but we communicated just beautifully with them after Scott ordered them one beer ... and then another beer. We even pulled off into one of the center aisles, sharing a lot of "Gambay" and beer and peanuts in their shells.
Note to readers: Beer in China is extremely light and laden with very little alcohol. Although it is less popular than tea, on a hot day on a bamboo raft ride, it becomes a refreshing drink. Moutai is the very strong alcohol here, and we haven't seen anyone drinking it this time in China. There used to be a lot of toasting with Gambay (bottoms up) at the opening and closing ceremonies, but this year Moutai was not a part of the ceremony. We were told that the Moutai is now up to $230 a bottle, which explains why we don't see it being consumed at all.
It's delightful how much we all enjoyed each other's company with almost no intelligible words in common between us. The two paddle men even rolled homegrown tobacco and gave some to Scott. It was an afternoon filled with communion and laughter.
Note to readers: Beer in China is extremely light and laden with very little alcohol. Although it is less popular than tea, on a hot day on a bamboo raft ride, it becomes a refreshing drink. Moutai is the very strong alcohol here, and we haven't seen anyone drinking it this time in China. There used to be a lot of toasting with Gambay (bottoms up) at the opening and closing ceremonies, but this year Moutai was not a part of the ceremony. We were told that the Moutai is now up to $230 a bottle, which explains why we don't see it being consumed at all.
It's delightful how much we all enjoyed each other's company with almost no intelligible words in common between us. The two paddle men even rolled homegrown tobacco and gave some to Scott. It was an afternoon filled with communion and laughter.
We also noticed that many young couple were on the bamboo rafts. The young women would often move to the very front of the raft, posing in sensuous and provocative ways for their boyfriends who were taking "glamour" shots of their beloved. Again, much laughter and shared good time!
Beautful, memorable day!!!!
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