Phony but beautiful

 
The "Tujia" are one of the officially recognized minority ethnic groups in China. (The Han, the majority, constitute something like 90% or 95% of the population). On our cruise up the Yangtze River, we choose an optional visit to a tribal area. We were informed, this was not an authentic village we would be seeing, but instead it was something set up for tourists, with local people dressed in costumes. They staged a "wedding" for the visitors every fifteen minutes. Sort of like our "Wild West" show with "Indians". But, despite that caveat, we went on the excursion anyway. (Lots of people did; primarily Chinese.) Here is one picture, illustrating some romantic story well-known to all the Chinese. I thought I would include it, because, despite being SOOO phony, it is also SOOO beautiful.

Plain but authentic

 
Some 1.3 million people had to be relocated because their houses or land was flooded by the waters of the Three Gorges Dam. The farmers were given the choice of remaining to be farmers, or of becoming urbanites. Most chose to become urbanites, because of the many advantages, such as health care (farmers are not eligible). But some chose to remain farmers, because that was the life they were familiar with. One of our land excursions during the Yangtze River cruise was to visit the farm house and farm of one of the relocated families. (They got just ½ acre to farm, not what they had before, but received a supplement ... if I remember correctly, it was about $50/month ... to compensate them for loss of income). And, undoubtedly, they welcomed the income from hosting a group of visitors for an hour or so once a week. Here's a picture of the sitting room of their house, and one of the master bedroom. (The sparse decoration was very typical, based on the several homes we visited.)