Trip to Anlong--extended version

During my second week with CURA, I had the chance to go out to Anlong village with CURA to see the work they'd been doing in the village. It was absolutely incredible experience seeing and learning about the sustainable practices implemented in the village, doing our part to help, talking to the villagers, and getting a taste of the local culture, both through cuisine and dance!

Anlong Village is about an hour-long bus ride from the outskirts of Chengdu. We arrived around noon, just in time to have lunch at Mr. Zhao's:

Featuring potato salad, twice-cooked pork, eggplant, string beans, soft-boiled cabbage 

The feast before us was impressive not only in terms of flavor and variety, but also for the fact that everything was sourced straight from Mr. Zhao's farm, including the rapeseed oil the dishes were cooked in. The dish in the middle, soft-boiled cabbage was something new to me; on it's own, it's very plain, but is delicious when dipped in spicy oil. 

After lunch, we went went out to see the wetlands and dry composting toilets. We were lucky to get the chance to meet Daniel, a Swiss man teaching hugelkultur practices to the villagers. He was working on his 'compost raised-beds.' Mimicking nature, these beds were self-sustaining food forests teaming with diversity. His explanation of how they worked was amazing. Essentially, he makes a pile of branches and covers it with compost and mulch, interspersed with rocks (to promote insect life, reflect sunlight, and add trace minerals). The seeds are planted and left on their own. The composition of the raised bed holds moisture and air very well. As Daniel described it, it was a dynamic environment, expanding and absorbing water in the rain, and slowly shrinking as the water is released. The productivity of this approach was readily visible when compared to the neighboring plot of corn planted at the same time: 

Left: 'compost raised bed' corn; Right: regularly grown corn

I admired Daniel for his passion in what he did, but even more so for his realism--he made sure his methods not only sustainable but also profitable to the farmers, as is the case with his compost raised-bed. His philosophy of mirroring nature and letting things take care of themselves was exciting to see in practice. And, his initiative to lead by example and demonstrate was certainly a lesson applicable to other things. 

After, we went on to Mr. Luo, who would be hosting us for the night. On our way, we saw where some of the river water was diverted to the village for agriculture, and ultimately returned to the river again. CURA introduced the concept of returning the water the river as clean as they had received it. This is currently being done through the use of wetlands, or letting used water purify in pools of water with various aquatic plants prior to flowing back into the river, comparable to kidneys. The water can be dirty kitchen or shower water, as is the case with the Chen family business by the river. In addition to going to see the wetlands there, we go to enjoy some time wading in the adjacent river. Icy cold, the water took some getting used to, but was a warm welcome on a sunny day. We sat in the shade to dry off, drinking piping hot jasmine tea and sharing stories. Aside from the 'formal learning' we'd received from the day's activities, this afternoon siesta was rich with Chinese culture, touching upon the Cultural Revolution, the general lack of public environmental awareness, and even the joking term 啪耳朵 ('ear pull'), which refers to men who live to serve their wives, as if they were dragged around on their ears all the time. 

When we finished our tea (served in standard glass beer mugs), we headed back to the village for dinner, stopping by Mr. Wang's house on the way. He's one of the sustainable farmers who delivers his produce to city consumers through a community-supported agriculture system. Interestingly, it's not quite similar to those in America. Perhaps better known as co-ops, the customers come to a set place at a set location to pick up their produce share and also get some face time with the farmer(s) that grew their food. However, for the convenience of the customers, who are spread out across the city, Mr. Wang delivers them to door of each customer early in the morning--on the hottest days he'll leave home at 1:30 am to ensure the vegetables do not wilt. On better days, he'll leave around 3:30 am. 

Dinner at the Zhao's, featuring spicy buckwheat noodles
and golden preserved egg

Taking a break after dinner, we joined the family in watching the local news. For some reason, the station thought it news worthy to spend a good half hour on a reporter's quest to find a public bathroom in a small town that a group of tourists had failed to find. Dong then took us out to see 广场舞, or a plaza dance, essentially the Asian version of Zumba. The ladies of two neighboring villages, both young and old gather nightly to dance for an hour or two to some pretty hip music. There is no leader; after having been taught by an instructor CURA had brought in a while ago, the dances are self-propagating. Newcomers like us need only watch the others to pick up the dance over time. We decided to join in the fun despite our utter lack of dancing ability (I really just speak for myself here). The ladies were gracious enough to keep straight faces when we turned the wrong way, stuck out the wrong limb, or looked like lumbering elephants. By the end of it all, the ladies all looked prim and proper in their cheery dresses while we were sweating from overexertion. This has been of my most memorable experiences over the summer. Plaza dance is present throughout big cities like Chengdu. At night, open spaces of street corners or more scenic park areas are occupied by both men and women as they dance together or alone to the beat of the latest hits. 

From left: Virginie, Thomas, and me--we genuinely tried

Having had more than a day's worth of exercise, we called it day.

The next morning I got up early to talk to Mr. Luo while he was cooking. He still has a traditional kitchen with a large wok over a wood fire, and a formidable iron teapot hanging from the ceiling to rest right by the stove top. The design is so that water can be boiled while a meal is made, saving time and fuel. His kitchen also has a touch of modernity; there is a small gas stove powered by the biogas generator CURA installed in his home. As you can see, it's quite effective. 

Powered by the methane from the biogas generator 

 Breakfast was home-grown sweet potato porridge, chives, fava beans, and potato slaw. We shared a few more stories over the abundant meal before heading out and picking up trash around the nearby pond, left there by careless fishermen. Previously, CURA planted some foxtail fern around the perimeter of the pond to help clean it up. They're growing well, which means there's plenty of stuff in the water for them to break down. If the water's very clean, then they would not be thriving as easily. Following the morning cleanup, we headed back to Chengdu.

A few extra pictures I'd taken:

These are posters issued by the government I believe to all the families. From left, harmful food combinations, beneficial food combinations, and healthy foods. For example, one bad combo was lamb and watermelon, due to a bad chemical reaction between the two. A good combo was eggplant and bittermelon. The rightmost poster mostly describes the health benefits vegetables and grains. Just thought this was interesting seeing that it stems from a public health project of sorts headed by the government. Also learned from the poster I needed to stop indulging in quail eggs, a hot pot favorite, given its high cholesterol content (triple that of chicken eggs by mass). 

Update: since this post--I've gone back to Anlong two more times, this time to receive and facilitate a group of high school students predominantly from America as well as a few other groups from China. During these visits, I have since passed on what I have learned to them, while also learning more through the dialogue they initiate with the farmers and villagers. I'm also happy to say they've enjoyed plaza dancing just as much as I have. I'm definitely looking forward to my next trip to Anlong!