The traditional wooden and bamboo houses in the villages in the Longji Terraces are built on poles. The open, lower level is for livestock and the upper level is living quarters.
The villagers who live here are so used to tourists that it’s common for them to open up their homes for the curious. It’s one thing to be invited; quite another to ask if we can snoop around.
But according to our fantastic local guide, Maggie (I’ll post about her later), it’s perfectly acceptable to knock on a random door and ask for a look-see.
I was willing to follow her lead — as long as I didn’t have to do the knocking.
As we stood at the bottom of the stairs of one house, I heard a very large hog grunting. (Bacon?)
Maggie emerged and waved us up, “Come in! Come in!”
A Zhuang woman with a great smile greeted us, as we roamed her house. She told us her children had moved away and she now lived there with only her husband. She later told us she was a grandmother too!
It was really dark and cool inside. A fire pit dominated the large main room — and a small TV in the corner was broadcasting a Chinese historical drama.
In a corner to the left was the kitchen, and there were I think two bedrooms behind us.
When I asked how they ventilated the smoke from the fire, it just showed how badly I would do at Survivor.
They use the fire to smoke bacon, and the smoke is necessary to keep the house dry for the sweet potatoes they store in the attic.
The lady offered to make some for us for lunch, but we declined, already feeling like we had intruded enough.
For her graciousness, we gave her 20 yuan ($3.50 CAD).
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