Excited anticipation

I'm going away this weekend...my first weekend trip away. I am quite excited, jumping out of my skin excited really.

China is huge, with vastly varying cultures, people and landscape. I can't wait to see it all.

My Chinese school is organising a small weekend trip to a little village a couple of hours south of Beijing.

We will visit the Shuanglong Gorge, which should be beautiful.

Then on the second day we are going to Chuandixia Village (川底下，literal translation "under the bottom of the river"), this is the place I am really excited about. It's got it all! Some history (Ming and Qing Dynasty), some remaining Maoist graffiti and slogans from the cultural revolution, some authentic village life (with a little bit of trashy tourism thrown in).



It looks lovely and quaint. There are only supposed to be 70 families living in this little village. Because it is so well preserved, it has now been flooded with tourists.

Some of the guide books describe it as a living museum. I quite like that description. I like that idea that little pockets of history don't just stand still in time but rather they evolve with time. I like the thought that the houses in this tiny village have been able to survive all these centuries.

Apparently, all the people in this village have the surname "Han" as they are all descendants from the same family. And I suppose again this is what I love about China. Modernity and globalisation may have swept through but much of it, perhaps even the majority of it remains much the same.

There is supposed to be a lot of touristy traps here. To some degree that does sadden me, but in another sense I am happy about it.
Yes, it is sad that much of the charm and beauty of these places are enveloped by bus fumes, loud tourists and constant camera clicking.
But, I also wonder if places like this would survive if it weren't for tourism. With the sweeping changes that capitalism brought in, I wonder if this little village may have been bulldozed to make way for a steel factory. Perhaps sometimes tourism is the necessary evil to keep these charming places alive...even if a little of the charm is removed.

And....well from a purely selfish viewpoint. I like visiting these places. And I am incredibly excited about going to this village.

My views about the worth of tourism may change after I've seen this village....but for now I'm happy to go as a tourist.