Very Beautiful Cultural Ming Dynasty Water Village Land

As presumed, the straw hats get pointy and plentiful as the landscape gets lusher and wetter. Here are some shots from a water village in the province neighboring Shanghai. It's still really a village today, in most respects, but it's also like a theme park, like "Water Village Land." You have to buy tickets to enter. Likely, there are some places in China that operate like this today - people hopping from shore to shore by boat (the boats reminded me of punting at Oxford but grittier) - but there wouldn't be the well preserved Ming Dynasty attractions, etc.

At one point, I had a "Darjeeling Limited" moment (for you Wes Anderson fans out there) when I stepped into what I was told was a sculpture exhibit but what was, in fact, a sculpture exhibit of Buddhas and a temple. At the end of the tour, which was in Chinese (a language I do not speak), I was led through the temple, shown how to pray to Buddha, led through the prayers, looked upon sternly when I giggled a little, asked when I was born, pointed in the direction of my proper Buddha, given a little card, and asked for 100RMB. The part of me that is Catholic and that knows when I'm being scammed said, "wait a minute," and rejected the golden, inedible fortune cookie. But I did learn that I was born in the year of the Hawk, an auspicious year. Don't worry, Mom. I'll always have luck.

And now, photos... without much explanation, as I am not Sino-expert, nor Ming scholar and so shall not pretend to be:

W elcome to the Venice of Ming China

Merchant's House
Goodbye lady of the house.. I am off to the seas to make money for this bronze panel that will tell the story of our lives.

The seas.

Punting.

I don't know what these dried fish are for, but they intrigued me as I hope they do you.

A little propaganda in the Ming Statesman's house.

But, my, the statesman had a lovely kitchen.

Commerce.

18th century book club (I joke not).

Ming tea garden.

Traffic jam.

Unfortunately, you have to pay extra for these gondoliers to sing for you. We wouldn't pay so our lady ignored us and talked to her friends on the shore.

I can't imagine cleaning clothes in this river makes anything cleaner...

Oh, and I think I found the smell of China. It's a real smell. Of cooking, and burning and life. The cities just smell like disinfectant and pollution so all that gets masked .