camel #4

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This post is about a 23km walk from Dongguan to Qixian. I visit the famous Qiao Family Compound and wonder about some roadside graves.

I woke up in the unholy smell of that hotel room this morning and thought: what a bad way to start the day.

A bit of walking and the lungs full of fresh air cheered me up a bit though.

Then I ran into this goofball:

goat in Shanxi

Can goats possibly look even more ridiculous than sheep?

I’m not sure yet, but I found someone EVEN GOOFIER than the two:

foolish camel

This is Camel #4. He doesn’t have a name. He’s just number four out of four.

And this is his buddy:

honorable camel

Camel #3.

They were all very kind (and intelligent, I thought). Before their careers in tourism they used to work as actors.

Qiao’s Grand Courtyard

This is where I found them:

Qiao Family Mansion

The Qiao Family Compound 乔家大院 is another wealthy merchant’s private estate from the Qing-dynasty (清 1644-1911):

Qiao Family Mansion street

Though smaller than the Chang Family Courtyard in Dongguan, this place has a much bigger reputation throughout the country. It even has its own TV-series (Qiao’s Grand Courtyard), shot on location in 2005.

I liked the fact that the museum seemed to have tried to restore some of the actual living conditions, like this bridal chamber:

Qiao Family Mansion room

I didn’t like the yard at all though:

Qiao Family Mansion park

Seriously, compared to the massive gardens in Chang Family Courtyard, this place looked like it belonged to a needy man with little or no taste.

Well, why would I go off about other people’s homes – I basically live on the road.

graves

One thing that I have always wondered about in China is this:

roadside graves on the walk from Dongguan to Qixian

Sometimes, out of nowhere, there are tombstones. I have never seen graves outside of a cemetery in any Western country before. Or maybe I was just not paying attention?

But the more I think about this, the more I like it. I mean, are you particularly fond of crowds? Or do you prefer the luxury of personal space? Well, what about the place of your last rest then?

Ok, whatever, I still had to complete my walk from Dongguan to Qixian:

the road to walk from Dongguan to Qixian

My time management has become terrible lately: I wake up (early), can’t make myself get up, go back to sleep, wake up again (late), get up, start walking and finish walking late, then I eat, shower, wash some clothes, sort my pictures, come up with something to write, get it written up, post it on the site (always late: it’s already 00:34 now) …

Anyway, what I actually wanted to say is this:

the road to walk from Dongguan to Qixian

Hail metal!

Sometimes it is only my earphones filled with furious blasts of music that keep me going when it gets dark on the coal-covered highway.



  • Anand-Gua

    Now,it is 23:40.Today.I got up at 7:35,and finished my breakfast at 8:30.I always keep writing ,and I am going to write until 1:00.There is no music,and I have no desire to see and to talk with anyone.
    Mybe,I want to say,you are not alone,there are many friends care about you and stay with you!

    Reply

  • Christoph

    🙂 I hope you're taking some time off to recover and do something fun every once in a while!

    Reply

  • Abel

    I was once told by a wise old man that those strange burial places have to do with feng shui. You know, “300m East of (a certain river), this river flows from (such such) before leading into (the whatever there is).”

    Reply

  • Jesse

    The Qiao Family Mansion…

    I went there on a trip once, only to get a bad food poisoning.

    Real bad.
    For a week or so I basically threw up whatever I ate (or drank); even when I tried to drink water I would still throw up a couple minutes later. Had to abort the trip, spent a few days in a sketchy rural hospital living on glucose drips…

    The Qiao Family Mansion was the last place I went before the poisoning.

    Bad memories.

    Reply

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