'Deep China' and 'La France Profonde'

 Forgive me if I've misspelled it, but there is a concept that is quite common in France of getting to the 'deepest' parts of the country where perhaps France is most itself. Far from Paris (not that there's anything wrong with that wonderful place). Far from Lyon. Far from Marseille, and certainly far from the Cote D'azur.

In 'La France Profonde' there will still be a boulangerie and a Syndicat D'Initiative. Macdonald's will be unknown; people will still spend three hours cooking lunch and two hours eating it. I went to such a place in the 70s, and I'm sure there are still places today where it exists.

And in China, despite the massive changes and gobsmacking technology, I am sure that deepest China still exists. We are on a high speed train penetrating the mountains of Guizhou province at 120mph, but as we pass over huge bridges I see an old railway line running next to the river below. And I want to catch that old-fashioned train to the end of the line, to a small town where buses head up to the mountains. And I want to catch one of those buses to the end of the line and eat noodles at a place in the square where the stools you sit on are still wooden, not plastic. The photo above is from such a village that I visited with my cousins on this last China trip. It was £3.50 for all our three lunches And the photo below is the covered wooden bridge that was still extant, and beautiful.

And I want to watch old men playing cards at the end of the day, with a knowledgeable and entertained audience of other old men. And I want to see where the matriarch sits outside her house fanning herself after a day in the rice paddies. 

And even though a Chinese teenager may have no connection with this life, their parents will. And even some teenagers will. And they will know the meaning of Spring Festival, and Mid-Autumn festival, and when you should burn the paper money for your ancestors, and how really good noodles are made. And how a thatch roof or a cave house can be even better than an Aircon flat. 

And maybe on the next trip, Deep China will play a much bigger part than all the spectacular ( and deeply interesting and entertaining) things that New China throws at you. It is the flywheel, the 'Old Hundred Names' that underlies all Chinese attitudes and thought and determination. And it is very lovely to see.