Cuandixia

Cuandixia is an ancient village located the valley about 90 kilometers away from Beijing. We took the subway to the end of the line and then rented the driver and van for a 2 hour ride on rather rocky dirt roads. What a trip. We did kick the tires and did a quick inspection. We asked the driver where the seat belts were and he was so proud to show us that HE had a seat belt! We had the Rancie's with us and they speak pretty good Chinese so we were in good shape. This very little village has a history of over 500 years. The residents of the village are all descendants of Han Shining, a military official of the Ming Dynasty. The Emperor of this time went here in the summer to get away from the Beijing heat. A beautiful village with mountains on all sides.

This is rather funny....see the guy by the tree.  We were sitting
 there waiting for the van and this guy comes up and starts 
chopping down the limb of the tree.  Shavings were falling 
everywhere...we quietly got up and moved on.  We had a great day.

They insisted that we join them for lunch.  Chicken feet...they 
ate them like drum sticks, little fried fish...they started with the tail 
and ate the entire thing including the head, green beans, tofu,
 greens, rice and some rather tasty friend bread.  We had lots 
of fun with our new friends...they paid for our lunch...what a deal!

We found this restaurant with two round tables at the top 
of the village.  These Chinese people were here and insisted that 
they have their pictures taken with us.  They were all hugging, had
 to touch each other...now isn't that sweet.  The four women
 are all sisters having  an outing together.

The writing on the wall is from the 
Cultural Revolution - Mao's slogans

Several visitors on this day.  We went into a little shop and
 the lady from the ancient shop was all modernized with 
a scanner, computer and credit card machine...amazing!

The village is build like this with alley ways leading up to other homes.  Nothing is spread out.

Chris, Rae and Lane -  This was a cool place to visit.

The van arrived safely with all of us inside.  
The driver has a home here.