Farming in Fuzhou

While in Fuzhou, I got to engage in a number of agricultural pursuits. On the very first day, we went into the mountains to forage for Chinese bayberries (Myrica rubra). Wild bayberries are tangy, unlike the bland bayberries available in the rural markets. They are usually picked from the ground beneath a bayberry tree (which can be manually shaken in order to make more bayberries fall). When going into the mountains, we avoided the commonly used trails because we figured all the bayberries would have already been taken. Gina's dad went in front, machete in hand:





On another day, I got to make Chinese mugwort-flavored green sticky rice cakes (detailed instructions on how to make these will be provided in a future post):



I also got to feed the fish (with grass cut along the river):



And, last but not least, I got to transplant rice with the village women (men don't usually do this kind of work...I think they prefer to stay home and play mahjong):





Finally, here's a random picture of a ham hanging out to dry after being washed (hams usually accumulate so much grease over the year from hanging over the stove that they occasionally need to be washed)...



and of Gina eating a cucumber: