Rural China

What fascinates me about rural China is the simplicity of daily life. At my in-laws', various agricultural products, some grown in their own garden, are chopped into small pieces and cooked in a frying pan in the yard kitchen—either fried, steamed, or boiled. Warm water for tea is heated in a large kettle sitting atop a small coal stove. Of course, everything can be done with a boiler and a more modern kitchen in the house, but they prefer the simpler ways of living, as it has become a habit or tradition for them to fire up the wood stove. In the small courtyard garden, Chinese cabbage is now being grown for the winter, with enough to last through the entire cold season. In the neighboring village of Fengxiangcun, it's market day, and life pulses along the main street with vibrant activities that simply invite you to watch. Many people offer their small harvests or culinary specialties. Customers come running or drive by in their E-tuktuks along the lined stalls. At one point, a merchant's tuktuk is parked sideways. Now, customers are pushing past in the narrow space, loudly discussing who should wait and who can go first. Everyone makes their witty remarks, and somehow, the tangled mess of vehicles and people resolves itself.