The rice paddies are being flooded and the seedlings will be transplanted into the big fields during the next two weeks. There are very few public swimming pools in China . . . We ride about 40 km per day and see a lot of rice fields, water buffalo, villages, dirt, mud, motor cycles, farm vehicles. It is tiresome and we have sore legs and butts at the end of each day. Life in China is very different than in rural China.
Rice paddies are plots of ground in which rice is grown.
The soil is very clay like and requires a lot of tilling. It has to be turned into a muddy slurry before the rice seedlings are planted. We bike on ten speed mountain bikes that get VERY muddy during the week. Each group brings along one lap top computer on to which we download digital pictures that we take along the way. Snake is a common food found in all the markets.