This past weekend Red and I visited another village. This time it was one called Yujiacun (于家村), named after the Yu family, which we were told more than 90% of the villagers are part of (Yujiacun literally translates as "Yu family village"). After taking a train and two buses, we arrived just after nightfall and were dropped off at a family restaurant in the middle of town. We ate dinner and then were shown to the home of one of the restaurant workers where we rented a room for the night. After laying down our things we grabbed a couple flashlights and walked around outside for a bit. While walking around I noticed a flurry of wind-borne particles illuminated by the light from my flashlight. Neither of us knew what to make of it. We had passed several factories not far from the village on our way there, which could be one explanation. The area is, however, extremely dry and dusty (which we were unaware of at the time) which could also explain the particles. We're still unsure of just what was floating in the air, whether it was pollution, dust, or a combination of the two.
I mentioned in a previous post that a large portion of China is suffering from a longstanding drought. Going to an actual rural area that has been affected by the drought, however, gave me a much better understanding of what is actually going on rather than simply reading about it. Terraced hillsides surround Yujiacun, although farming appears to be on hold for now. Instead of crops, dirt and burnt weeds are all that remain throughout most of the region.

The town has an irrigation canal that runs alongside the road that leads to other villages like Yujiacun, however, it too lacks even the slightest trace of water.

But then, somehow, amidst all the beige colored landscapes are plots of bright green grass growing (seemingly) healthily.

The Saturday that we were in the village was the day of the Qingming Jie (清明节, literally "Clear Bright Festival"). During Qingming Jie many people who have moved to cities to find work return to their hometowns to remember their ancestors. As we were walking around the outskirts of the village, one family happened to notice us and invited us down to one of the terraces where two of their family members had been buried. I took this one just before the family called us down to join them.

We walked down, said a few words with the family, and then crouched behind them as they performed their rituals. After setting down bags full of food, two of the men in the family started a fire just in front of the graves. They then proceeded to throw in fake money and paper cutouts of various goods such as clothing and automobiles. The idea behind this is that they are sending these things to another world where their deceased family members live.
As the fire died down the family, on hands and knees, said some prayers and then concluded their remembrance by setting off a few fireworks. Afterward, Red and I returned to town, where we were almost immediately invited by another family to join them for lunch. Naturally, we accepted. We ate lunch with the men and one woman who could speak some English in one room while the women and children ate lunch in another. As we were leaving, the family invited us back for dinner later, which we also accepted. That afternoon we walked for a couple hours through the countryside with a boy from the family, returned, and then waited while dinner was prepared. As we were waiting, one of the women in the family must have thought us bored, so she took us up to the roof of her house, which I suppose was meant to provide us with more lively entertainment. It was a nice gesture, however I must say that, as you might imagine, standing on a roof in a farming village isn't that much more entertaining than, say, standing anywhere else in the village. As we were waiting I did happen to get a shot of a guy returning from the hills at dusk with his flock of sheep.

The following morning I awoke to the sound of Chinese traditional music being played somewhere in the town along with an unpleasant feeling in my stomach. We made it back, though, to Beijing and I have recovered.