Day 376: It’s All Peachy

Shihezi, China

The whole family had been busying themselves about making sure I ate well and ate everything possible under the sun. I was stuffed!

Aside from feeding me, my aunt, cousins and niece brought me around to the farmlands, the museum, and the town square.

In the countryside, we went peach-picking. Peaches are in season. And this particular peach they have can only be found in Xinjiang.

The museum we visited told and showcased the era in which the Han Chinese, with the encouragement of the government, migrated from all over the land to Xinjiang. Life were tough then since it wasn’t “civilized.” The local ethnic groups live in their ways of lives totally alien to Chinese. And a lot of them, nomadic.

The town square was interesting. By the government building, the  communist party songs were broadcasted out loud. These were accompanied by stunning display of lights and water work. Communist slogans were hung proudly on the two fronts of the building.

Entirely commercialized now, it’s hard to imagine that a few decades ago, China was absolutely utilitarian. People wear the same clothing, mainly of the color white, black, blue and gray. And speaking one’s opinion out loud about politic was a big no-no’s. Today, only hints of the past days were apparent now and then.