户县农民画庄

My husband and I were on a 21-day tour. Part of tour included a home stay in the village. We stayed in the newer part of the village. The purpose was so that we would have a better understanding of the culture. Our group was split up so we could spend the night in a villager’s home. Language was definitely a challenge. The villagers spoke minimal English, but none of us spoke Mandarin. We all resorted to gestures and my Ipad Chinese/English dictionary to communicate. It took a lot longer, but it worked. We were fed very well and that evening we went to socialize in the square where everyone danced as a group to various types of music. The next day, we walked to a local artists’ studio. Wang Naillang painted pictures and also made pictures from straw. We purchased a peony straw picture and a painted panda picture (where both now proudly hang in our house in the U.S.) Then it was time for arts and crafts. His wife had us cut a red-folded tissue picture. The end result was supposed to be the Chinese word, “double happiness”. Mine came out in proportion while my husband’s came out a little “fat”. It was definitely an adventure. Afterwards, we walked to the older part of the village where some of it had been abandoned since residents usually moved to the new part when they could afford it. As a group, we were invited to walk into one of the older homes. It was occupied by an older Chinese woman who could have moved, but didn’t want to because this was her home. There were dirt floors with no evidence of electricity. The bed was a raised platform about 3 feet high made of bricks. Portions of the walls in some of the rooms wouldn’t keep the elements out. Frankly, my tent trailer has more amenities. After this village visit, I had a deeper appreciation of our living conditions in the United States!