El Zorro: A First Visit to one of the earliest Soviet villages in Modern China( 初探新中國農村蘇维埃之首)

After having lunch, we were taken to another village in Human which is the embodiment of both tradition and revolution: Liu Hua Wan Village (流華灣村) in the southern part of Hunan Province. According the information at the entrance to the village, it was built at the end of the Ming Dynasty, some 400 years ago. Originally it belonged to the Liu clan (劉) and was later sold to the Yuan clan (袁) which produced a dozen provincial level scholar (秀才) and 5 state level scholar (進士) who were entitled to be examined at the palace. The village also took part in a revolt in March 1928 and set up the first soviet government in China under the guidance of two Communist revolutionary leaders Chu Teh/Zhu De (朱德) and Chen Yi (陳毅) at the home of a Communist Party member 袁才奇 and then organized an attack of the county government at 資興興寧 then controlled by the Nationalist government, by some 200 peasant soldiers of its own village together with another 100 or so peasant soldiers from a neighboring county 郴縣. In that battle, 40 of them died as early martyrs of Communist China.

There are now still some 400 people from a hundred or so families all surnamed Yuan (袁) living in this rural village with buildings built some 400 years ago.

There's a huge lotus flower pond right at the front of the village

The huge lotus pond

A nice natural car park for this motorized tricycle truck under the willow tree.

One of the few late bloomers

A mosquito net over a reed bed

Pumpkin slices left to dry in the sun on a pole

bamboo trays atop a wooden wheelbarrow with some dry hay outside a house

clay stoves with primitive protective iron coats

a kitchen now fitted with energy saving light bulb

part of a primitive harvesting machine?

the farm sheds are overgrown with melon creepers

one of the narrow alleys

The basement are used for storing miscellaneous articles not often used

including unused logs, poles etc.

long green peppers left to dry on the platform outside the house

Unlike the green peppers, the red peppers are cut in halves before being dried

an old village grandma preparing the melon

Washing the melon before cooking

A bundle of corn are left to wind-dry under the eave.

some are sunned together with the shoes

Peanuts left on the tray to dry

another kitchen with a huge stove and firewood and old wooden cabinets

The kind of roots like those which caused nausea to Roquentin in Sartre's La Nausée?

Old fashioned clay urns for seasoning preserved vegetables?

Four huge grape fruit hanging heavy on the branch

Another type of vegetable which looks like "kau kay" (?) left to dry.

All kinds of nuts and seeds left to be sunned in front of the house

huge red peppers

A melon flower

Two geese which yelled at me for a really long time until I imitated their cackling.

old building materials are always recycled in the villages

is this a threshing machine?

an old farm truck with neither bonnet nor hood

What is that lotus seed pod doing there?

Dried fern thatch awaiting use?

Apparently their got air conditioners at the village now.

A huge painting of a famous Chinese courtesan

Two kids curious about me poking around with my camera.

This boy even deliberately ran after me and tried to tease me!

Once I approached, they would run back to their house, giggling. But the moment I was gone, they would come out to peek at me again.

when I was trying to look at this village beauty.

When I turned around, I found him behind my back!

When I spoke to him, he ran back to his sister and together they ran towards their his house.

When I returned, the girl was still working.

A family shrine?

I took a closer look: a shrine praying for long life and virtue..

A huge husking barrel

There are not very many tourists here. This old grandpa invited me to sit and talk with him

Some local plant. I didn't have time to ask what they're good for>

Whilst still trying to figure out what the sponge needles were, I heard cries all around me. There's a battle on the ground!

The flying insect was attacking what looks like a spider like worm. Someone asked the old lady selling the spiked-sponge plant what kind of worm it was. Laughing, she said it was a type of worm which feeds on rice grains. It was clear that the rice-eating worm was no match for the raider from the sky. In less than a half a minute, the battle was over, with the sky raider dragging his prey away to somewhere safe to have his afternoon snack.