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China In Fall

• Jiuzhaigou in fall
• Turpan - Harvest Fall
• Fall in Yellow Mountain
• Harvesting Countryside
• Chinese Culture in Fall

The golden paddies fields, the fragrant scent of fruit, crops wafting in the air are signs of fall in the countryside in Southern China.

Autumn is the best season for children in the poor mountainous area. Autumn means harvest time when they can pick wild fruits across the vast rugged mountains. Visitors who go to China’s countryside in fall can sometimes see a group of young boys picking up fruit in a courtyard. The older ones are trying to reach the ripe fruit hanging in the tree with a high bamboo pole. Those who are not strong enough or the young ones are in charge of collecting the fruit as it falls. Unlike children in cities or towns who are separated by high walls and big doors, kids in the countryside grew up together and share almost everything. Fall bears witness to their happy childhood.

Picking wild fruit which is found deep in the mountains is another adventure for children who live in the country villages and this is something their city cousins never experience. A handful led by an older ones search for any mischief that will fill their day bring lots of stores to be told over and over again. They may return home heavily laden with variety of fruits ranging from Chinese gooseberries, persimmons, and pears to Chinese chestnut but sometimes they return empty-handed.

For farmers, fall is a sweet but hard working time season. The farmers in the mountainous areas usually harvest their rice by hand, as they have done for centuries while at the same time urban dwellers just a short distance away have access to the most advanced technology in their daily life. The rice harvest is extremely strenuous and takes its toll on all involved.

Men, women and children carefully cut the wheat or rice stalks with a sickle and hand tie them into bundles so they can be easily moved. The stalks then are threshed by a hand operated threshing machines and afterwards the grain is sun dried. The farmers use remote bumpy dirt roads or sleek well-traveled sealed roads as drying places. The vehicles only help to loosen the grain.

The grain is swept into piles and scooped into sturdy white fabric bags to be stored at home or sold at market. This is a time-proven but laborious process. It is the culmination of all the hard work on the farm and a milestone in the year. It is however, the foreboding precursor of the winter yet to come.