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Olympic torch ventures to China's last frontier |
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KAILI, Guizhou, China (BP)--When the Olympic torch passed through Guizhou province, it ventured across the last frontier of China, the place modernity has not yet fully reached. Even the Chinese speak of the province as backward.
"Greyzhou," some call it. Although it is lush, the sun seldom shines. Yet for a moment the torch illuminated this obscure, minority-rich region in mid-June.
Guizhou's beauty is raw, a beauty without rating. Only recently has the province opened its doors to foreigners.
The route to Kaili, called the Miao and Dong minority capital, passes villages nestled in clefts of irregularly shaped mountains and shallow valleys. Terraced rice fields are key to the village economy. Farmers with pointy straw hats nimbly navigate the terraced fields carrying baskets across their shoulders.
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