#dehang

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

德夯苗寨。

Dehang Miao Village.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

A walk by the river, in the valley outside Dehang Miao Village.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

德夯苗寨位于湘西土家族苗族自治州。我已经忘记了最上面的灯笼上写的是什么字，但好像是“生意通四海”。

Dehang Miao Village in Xiangxi (Western Hunan) Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. I think (although I’m not completely sure as I can’t remember what the one out of shot says) that the lanterns form the phrase “生意通四海“ which derives from the couplet “生意兴隆通四海，财源茂盛达三江”, this (extremely) roughly translates as “Business thriving across the four seas, wealth flourishing throughout the three rivers”, where “four seas” and “three rivers” are both poetic ways of saying “the whole world”.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

德夯苗寨，村外的峡谷里，道路变成河流，台阶变成瀑布，都很滑，很危险。其实我快到上面使，又一次滑倒了，受伤了。

When it rains it pours. The steep steps up the valley sides outside Dehang; it had rained heavily the night before and much of the route was waterlogged, slippy and dangerous. In fact, at one point I slipped and injured myself pretty badly.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

德夯苗寨村外田里的石径。日益消失的寂静农村生活的景色。

A path through the fields, outside Dehang Miao Village. A tranquil portrait of vanishing rural life.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

雷雨后的雾中德夯。

A misty morning in Dehang, after a thunderstorm.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

德夯周围的山谷里，高耸着壮观的卡斯特峰。自从我六年第一次来到这里，德夯经过一些变化，不再是那么偏僻、寂静，可是晚上坐在村中放松，还是很舒适--没有电灯，没有汽车。

Towering karst peaks in the valleys around Dehang, the village had changed a bit in the six years since I was first here and was no longer so quiet and remote (new roads and urban expansion/encroachment), but was nevertheless a wonderful place to sit and relax in the evening, no cars, no streetlights, just dark and quiet.

[tuomisheyingquanzhou-blog]

德夯是座苗寨，所以很多村民还有穿传统苗族衣裳的习惯。不过，年轻一代的人，就越来越少穿这种衣服。

Dehang is a Miao village and so many of the inhabitants still wear traditional Miao clothing. Although this is seen less and less in younger generations.