Rural Wares for the Adventurous Soul

I last wrote about getting out of Beijing. With the water table dropping so low in northern China that its engineering leadership wants to divert water from south to north, you can see the villages dwindling in size as young people head for the cities and leave the back-breaking work to the senior generation.

Supporting these rural people helps them enormously in this ever-changing era. And what treasures one can find! Walnuts gathered and dried by an old couple in a Ming-dynasty garrison village ...

Hand woven baskets and quilted seat cushions....

And, of course, produce.

On the road to Nan Kou, north of Beijing from the 6th Ring Road, there is a road filled with orchard produce selling fresh fruit from the end of June to mid-November. From roughly September until mid-November, apple-filled baskets, persimmon-laden tables and piles and piles of pumpkins line the road. (Below, already reserved baskets filled with Fuji apples)

The produce practically spills into the street from the various farmers' lots!

So, how to get there? Take the 6th Ring Road West. Get off Exit 53 going north. After paying the toll, you need to remember LEFT-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT. What does this mean? At the first T-intersection after paying the toll, turn LEFT. At the next intersection, turn LEFT. Now, you'll be on this road for a stretch. Do NOT take the first RIGHT. You will turn RIGHT at a big intersection with one of those blue road signs; you'll be looking for the direction of Liu Cun (which will be RIGHT!) In fact, before you get to this intersection, you'll pass what looks like the U.S. Capitol Building! (See below).

No, you didn't get lost in a space-time warp ending up in Washington, DC. Instead, you are passing the Beijing Geely University, one of the many private universities that opened up in China after 2001, when restrictions loosened up.

Once on the road towards Liu Cun, you will come to another big intersection (with sign); turn LEFT. There is a gas station on one corner of this intersection and on the day I visited, there were pumpkins practically exploding onto the road there were so many of them! (Big clue!)

If after all this you are lost (in fact, one curls around so much when exiting the 6RR that it's easy to feel disoriented), get out your phone and translator: Here's the number for Mr. Wang of one of the stands - 13683141699. And ALWAYS have a good map with you, with Chinese and English.

Enjoy!