Wuyi Shan cont'd....

The day after our big ascend to Wuyi Shan, we went to a quaint old village called Xiamei. The architecture goes back to the Ming (1368 - 1644) and the Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties. It was very well perserved with local people going about their daily business. The canal was built by a wealthy tea merchant in order to have his tea shipped to Europe or Southeast Asia. It was quite fascinating to see.

Some friendly and curious locals

The above picture was to demonstrate how heavy that slab of concrete was. Back in the day, in order for the son to be accepted into the military, he need only to lift the above over his head and walk 100 meters. The weight is 120 kilograms and the sons would practice until they could do this task. Alas, Mark will not be joining the military.

After lunch at Xiamei, we went rafting down the Jiuqu (Nine twists) Stream and were able to look up and see how far we hiked yesterday. I believe our guide told me that it was over 1000 steps and that's the starting point. He didn't mention number of stairs to get to the base of the mountain. It was probably a good thing. Now Ann know's why she's still sore!

Putting the bamboo rafts together

So today we bid farewell to Ann who has been our guest for the past 12 days or so. She should be flying near Tokyo as I write this blog. It has been a crazy, busy time for all of us and hopefully Ann enjoyed her stay here in China.