2025-10-23 (Thursday)
On the
two-hour trip to Pingyao, I tried to take pictures of the farming country along
the way but with limited success.
First stop was Hongtong Dahuaishu a monument to migration. A well designed and kept park, sculptures and buildings The story is fascinating.
During
the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) this valley was prosperous whilst a number of
other regions lost the population due to wars, starvation due to crop failure
and decease. So the emperor forcibly transported 50 million people to those
areas to repopulate/cultivate them. Their hands were bound force -marched out
[The expression for going to the toilet is still ‘untie my hands’ as that’s
what the people had to ask the officials]. Only pictures can tell this story.
A vast number of present-day Chinese people can trace their ancestry to this area. The records kept here allow those who come in to check their ancestry (family name) here relating to 600 years of migration.
Marg
bought me jade name related thing (closest thing to Daya is Da – meaning
peaceful and happy)
Attended a paper-cutting class in the afternoon. I got mine completely wrong and Marg got it right – It’s the character depicting ‘double-happiness’.
Drinkies outside
Hotel Pingyao for the night.
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