The Ingenious Chinese People

The Chinese people are known for many inventions and processes from ancient days that are still used today like gun powder etc. Traveling through China for 21 years when I think I have seen everything....I find that I learn and observe new things almost daily. The man above building his house with no nails and all hand tools although he has electricity available. His ancient fathers built their homes in the same manner so he does too. The fisherman fishing with birds catches far more fish and larger ones than I ever did sitting in a boat with all my fancy gear and costly bait. Note the ancient rain coat he is wearing made from reeds and a hat made from straw. The other is a photo of me checking out one of the beautiful buildings made with local stones and what I thought was concrete hand put together. My friend said the houses and walls were built before concrete was available and in the old days they used sticky rice mixed with sand to hold the stones together. Many of the homes and walls were over 200 years old. I noticed that much of the sticky rice and sand had probably fallen out over time. Our local guide said that during the "hard times" when his ancestors were starving, they dug out the rice and sand, separated them and cooked the rice so they wouldn't starve. I had to chock back tears thinking about that. Much to see and observe in China if you have a sharp eye and are curious.