3 Day Simingshan Tour

In the lower slopes we entered the city of Xi Kou, the hometown of general Chiang Kai Shek (“Jiangjieshi” in Chinese), the leader of the nationalist Koumingtang party (“Guomingdang” in Chinese). Jiang has been partially re-habilitated in recent years. I don’t know if this is due to cross-straight rapprochement, a genuine re-assessment of what Jiang was about, or if they just want to cash in on the tourist potential of his old hometown. Whatever the reason, there were teeming multitudes visiting his hometown during the break, visiting his mother’s tomb, the first imprisonment home of General Zhang Xueling, or just following everyone else. The sidewalks were overflowing with vendors selling steamed corn-on-the-cob (steamed corn is sold in China much like fairy-floss or candy-floss is sold in the West), balloons, fruit, maple leaves, steamed chestnuts, or anything else that was edible or saleable. Jiang is good business in his old hometown.

                               
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Selling What You Can to Whomever You Can

During the wars, Jiang visited the old capital city of Xi’an, later made famous by the Terracotta Warriors (they’re worth seeing, almost as much as seeing Carlton Football Club play footy www.carltonfc.com.au). As soon as Jiang arrived he was held prisoner by the local general – General Zhang Xueling – whom Jiang had come to consult. Zhang insisted that Jiang form an alliance with The Communists against the Japanese, and held Jiang prisoner in Xi’an until Jiang agreed to do so. Later Jiang placed Zhang under house arrest. The first place Zhang was held under house arrest was in Jiang’s old hometown, Xi Kou. Needless to say, Zhang’s previous place of imprisonment was doing a roaring trade as we cycled past. Jiang never forgave Zhang for his actions in Xi’an, and he certainly knew how to bear a grudge. When the Goumingdang retreated to Taiwan Zhang was dragged along with them, where he was held under house arrest until 1988. He was released after the death Jiang’s son – indicating that the son was unforgiving as his father. Zhang moved to the USA in 1995, and died in Hawaii in 2001 at around 100 years old. 100 years is a long time to live – and it would seem even longer still being under house arrest for so many of those years.

                               
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Cycling towards Xikou

We cycled on through paddy fields and orchards next to a lake.  Leaves harvested from the orchards are used to feed silk worms, so they are extremely important to the local economy. The fruit from these trees is a secondary crop. They are berries similar to blackberries and raspberries, but taste different again. We bought a bucket of these from a vendor on the side of the road and ate them sitting on the grass amongst the rice paddies. Our fingers were stained purple by the berries. Aaron told me how (as a young lad) he and his friends would creep into the orchards at night to snaffle some berries. I wonder if his fingers (and mouth) were stained.

                               
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Berries For Sale – at about USD$0.60 per basket

                               
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We Bought Only One Basket

                               
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Eating Berries

                               
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Stained Fingers

                               
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All The Gone!

                               
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The Lake

                               
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Aaron – China’s Biker Legend – is to the left in the photograph. He’s wearing a yellow jersey with no advertising. The people in the background are fishing.

                               
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Biking Through Paddy Fields