Samuel returned to his second home yesterday. We had the privilege of driving out to Yueyang County from the city.
We took a new to us road and it led through incredible pastoral beauty. Rice fields. Lotus blossoms. Mountains. Fish farms. Water buffalo. People out hoeing. Vineyards. Cement tombs in the hillside.
And an incredible amount of heavy duty equipment.
There were farmers lining the roads next to their vineyards selling grapes (HUGE – think Caleb and the spies). Yards and yards of bricks drying in the sun. The earth is incredibly orangey-red here and they dig it up with all that equipment and make it into bricks. There are enormously red chimneys protruding into the blue sky here that mark the kilns. Their contrast against the green treed mountains and that gorgeous blue sky was eye catching, like something out of national geographic.
There was evidence of timber harvesting too. Logging trucks that were much different than what we see, but get the job done. Lumber yards with de-limbed, de-barked uncut logs leaning in teepee fashion to dry. We saw them fashioned together in that state as trusses. No straight cut planks here.
Outside the city there are factories. Fans, heavy equipment, pharmaceuticals. Not as many as we saw in Grace’s southern city (Zhongshan, Guangdong), but with their obviously western input – landscaping out front and tall office windows facing the street. The Chinese style factory dorms reminded us that they are staffed by nationals though.
And then we got to Yueyang County itself. The first street lights we’d seen in awhile on the main streets. People casually strolling across the traffic with their children. Motorcycles and cars and public transit with nice bench coverings for those waiting.
The outskirts had repair shops for all that heavy equipment. And rice harvesting/threshing machines. Tire shops.
Then we got a bit further in and saw folks out front of their street side homes with wheat-coloured rice laying on the payment being raked over and dried.
A little further and we saw signs of tall apartment buildings being advertised. Wide thoroughfares that were not busy. Signs of hopeful growth to come, I suppose.
And then all of a sudden I recognized the street corner that we had taken a photo of two years ago. The big cargo truck, cab raised for repair. Was that the same truck as all those months ago? Men gathered around and under it?
We pulled up to the gate of the orphanage and were told that there was a new building. We’d been told that they were in progress last visit. They are bringing the children home to the orphanage shortly. Disbanding the foster system. Let me say. We were told the are twenty children in foster care now (19 last time). This is a big, big building. We were also told that it is only children with extra needs. Time will tell.
