The Mother River of China and YuLin County.

Though both belong to the province of Shaanxi, we had to take a plane ride from Xian to YuLin. That is how vast China is.  

The driver of our JiaXian office was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. He's a nice and funny guy who claims to be a fan of Manny Pacquiao (well -known boxer from the Philippines), who knew Pacquiao's rags-to-riches story.  Before we started our 2 hour travel to JiaXian, he took us to a noodle restaurant in YuLin, which he said is very popular. Each customer only pays around 1 dollar and can eat as many bowls of noodles as he/she can. There were many small bowls of herbs and condiments on each table, to mix and match.  It looked like a good business concept, judging from the many customers coming into the restaurant. 

My colleague , waiting to get started

Mix 'em and match 'em

The noodles was really good but easily filled me up. Our driver was able to finish around 8 bowls  of noodles (and these are not small bowls!) and he can finish more.The owner of the restaurant looked unhappy that I finished only 1 bowl and kept asking me (in Chinese) why I finished that little and if I did not like the taste.  Yang Min , our manager, and the driver, had to explain on my behalf.

After lunch, we started for Jiaxian.   Driving around YuLin, it was easy to notice that several new buildings were sprouting all over the city.  Yang Min shared that it was not like this before they discovered that their soil is rich in coal. Coal mining made many ordinary people instant millionaires. We used to have an office in YuLin but because the city became very progressive, we decided we were not needed there anymore and we closed

YuLin

On our way to Jiaxian, we passed by the Yellow River, one of the longest rivers in China at more than 5,000 kilometers long. Considered as the "Mother River of China"   and the "cradle of Chinese civilization", it was the center of Chinese culture for some 2,000 years in the past.  Confucious, the ancient Chinese philosopher, was born in one of the villages by the Yellow River.  The yellow color came from the lose sediments it carries.  It looked dark yellow, bordering on brown. 

By the bridge

the Yellow River

Bridge over the mother river

My self and my friend Yang Min

We then embarked on the 2 hour drive to JiaXian. The road was really wide and well paved and it was a very smooth travel.   I wish we also have these roads in the Philippine provinces.

On the way to Jiaxian

We finally reached JiaXian, and after a few introductions, we proceeded with our meetings and interview.  In the late afternoon, we met with the representative of the government from the Women's Group , which is our partner in the area.  The head of the Women's Group welcomed us over (big) dinner.  

And, it was time to call it a day.