8Traveling Back in Time:
A Ming Era Village

This past weekend, I went on a two-day hiking trip in the mountains west of Beijing, which began with a bus ride to the village of Chuan Di Xia. The village came into its own during the Ming Dynasty. As legend has it, a Ming emperor was warned by a Buddhist monk that the emperor was destined to die prematurely unless he relinquished his title, gave up his possessions and became a monk. As the emperor considered which was worse, death or conversion, a young man from Chuan Di Xia offered to become a monk in the emperor’s stead. Overjoyed, the emperor showered the young man’s home village with gifts, and Chuan Di Xia flourished.

Today, visiting the village is like stepping back in time. Chuan Di Xia is a series of tin- and tile- roofed houses and open-air courtyards nestled in a valley. Wild marigolds grow between the stones in the pathways and bees from nearby bee boxes buzz among the flowers. There is no running water, so villagers fill large basins to wash clothes and dishes. The only road into town is lined with carts selling fruit, nuts and honey.

After our hike, we settled down to a lovely dinner, prepared by our hosts, served on a patio overlooking the village. It was served family-style on big tables balanced by sawhorses, and we ate from communal dishes. There was a lot of rice, dyed purple as a result of being cooked with red beans, in addition to tofu, a dish of bok choy and mushrooms in broth, sweet potato noodles and cold cabbage in a tangy red sauce. At the end of the meal, our hosts began ladling strong liquor out of a glass jar. Inside the jar, floating in the alcohol, was a large snake and a scorpion. Nicknamed "snake juice" by our group, it tasted like what I imagine lighter fluid tastes like. We ended the evening around a large bonfire before retiring to our bunks. It was a phenomenal weekend.