Yanzi Dong

On the way to our next destination Yuanyang, we made a stop at Yanzi Dong, the Swallow Cave. Tens of thousands of swallows call the cave home and the local people have developed a special skill to gather their nests, which the Chinese believe is a kind of very precious health food. They can climb through the slippery rock without any safety measures. This skill has become a stunt performance.

Deep inside the cave are the usual colorful illuminations of lime stone formations. One special part is that as a tourist, you can also try your skill on the rocks.

I’ve made it. It’s really a nice view up here… hey… oh, no, I wanna go down. I am scared…. I wanna go home… Mom…

This is incredibly hot. Thankfully we are getting close to Yuangyang. This side of the bridge, is Jianshui, and over there is Yuanyang. People say it’s much cooler up in the mountains. Hurry up!!

Xinjie Zhen, the old Yuanyang county seat, is dominated by the colorful ethnic dresses. Each group has their unique style of dressing. I noticed that it’s all women doing business on the street. And here I was going to visit one Han businesswoman, an outsider who now made Yuanyang her home.

It seems people from all over the world come here to visit Xiaoyu.

Xiao Yu, owner of Xiao Yu Restaurant

Host: Hello, Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu: Hello

Host: I am talking to the famous Xiaoyu at her Xiaoyu restaurant. So you’ve been here for a long time right?

Xiao Yu: Eight years now.

Host: Did you open the restaurant as soon as you arrived here?

Xiao Yu: Yeah.

Host: It’s been a long time. Do you see the terraced fields differently than those who first arrive here?

Xiao Yu: If I go to the fields, I still feel just like them. I’ve been here a long time, but I still like to look at it. I still go over often. It’s very comfortable there.

Host: People from far and near come to your restaurant.

Xiao Yu: Yes from many countries.

Host: Do you often look at the messages left by your customers?

Xiao Yu: Yeah, I look at them when I have time and I will think of those who were here and wonder if they will ever come back again.

Host:Some people did come back right?

Xiao Yu: Yeah, many. Many come back every year.”

Host: And here is a drawing by a friend, it’s the terraced fields.

When you see the real view, you realize that no pen could paint the beauty of the terraced fields, no camera could capture the grandeur, and I am sure nobody could describe the charm. You can understand why some people visit so often.

I’d say its magnificent work of art. And the artists are both nature and human beings. For years, people have been working on these fields. You can still find little villages around. Here is one, and another over there.