Carpenters

There were three carpenters working inside the new house being built in Wudong (see Sawmill for Hire). One of the craftsmen is shown above squaring-up a cut for a window frame.

The other two workers are shown in the video clip below. The man on the left is planing a board with a combination table saw and planer. No gloves, no goggles, no ear plugs - but he apparently has all of his fingers. The man on the right is ripping a board with a handsaw for use as a wall panel. All three were friendly and clearly knew very well what they were doing. [NOTE: That's Mr. Yang Chenghua, the botanist from the Guizhou Forestry Academy, who walks in smiling at the end of the video. Mr. Yang is always smiling].

Nice Backyard

 

A shot of the backyard of one of the houses in Wudong. A good illustration of the blending of forestry and agricultural activities.  From left to right: (1) a stockpile of squared Cunninghamia logs to be cut into boards for repairs or for building a new house, (2) a stack of pole-sized firewood, (3) several rows of corn hanging to dry; this will be fed to the pigs, (4) a pile of Cunninghamia boards (with bag of laundry detergent on top), and (5) some roundwood (in the foreground) to be used - for something. And everything extremely neat and orderly. The yard is swept clean.

First Plot

Field crew lays out the rope for the first plot in the household-use forest transect in Wudong. It is drizzling rain. From left to right: Mr. Yang Chinghua, botanist from the Ghizhou Forest Academy; Yin Jin and Zhiyao Lu, Master's students from Minzu University in Beijing; and Mr. Yu Yong Fu from the Leigongshan Nature Reserve. The transect was a bit steep and slippery in spots, but we counted 81 Cuninghamia lanceolata trees, a few Castanea sequinii stems, and some Prunus sp. The crew did a great job. [NOTE: Mark Ashton and I worked the left and right side of the line (respectively) measuring diameters].

Sawmill for Hire

When you are building a house, you need some way to turn Cunninghamia lanceolata trees into boards. Not everyone has the means to do this.  In the Miao village of Wudong (see Miao Still Life and Miao Decor), there is one man (shown below) who has a portable sawmill and who will set it up behind the house you are building and make boards for you. He designed and built the decidedly simple sawmill himself.  He works on about three houses/year, and does jobs in several different villages in the area. [NOTE: The rough, dimension stock he cuts is carefully planed and fitted by the crew of carpenters working inside the house].

Fields of Gold

The rice fields around Xijiang have turned a beautiful golden color. There is a frenzy of activity as the Miao farmers work to harvest their fields and transport the grain back to the village. And it just keeps raining... 

No Nails

The Miao make their houses out of poles and planks cut from Cunninghamia lanceolata trees.  The basic house frame is a simple post and beam construction. The two structural components are held together with a mortise and tenon joint locked with wooden pins (shown in the image above). The boards used for the walls and windows and doors are carefully counter sunk into grooved baseboards. No nails are used at any point in the construction process. [NOTE: I have been in Miao houses that are over 30 years old; some are three stories tall].

Counting the Rings

Mark Ashton (left), Morris K. Jesup Professor of Silviculture at Yale, and Yang Chenghua (right), botanist at the Guizhou Forestry Academy, count the rings on a large cross section of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook to estimate its age and growth rate.  This valuable timber species, known locally as "shamu", is used by the Miao to build their houses (see Miao Still Life) and it is widely planted and managed in local forests. We spent the day in the drizzling rain running inventory transects in the forests outside of Wudong to quantify the density and size-class structure of Cunninghamia trees. [NOTE: We got soaked - but we finished 2,000 m² of transects. A good day].  

Beijing Air

Arrived last night to Beijing.  This is a shot from the cab on the way to the airport to show the lousy air quality. It's not so apparent in the photo, but you can only see about two blocks in front of you and the tops of tall buildings disappear in the haze. Made my eyes burn. Flight to Guizhou was uneventful, and I am posting this from the Yidu Hotel in Guiyang. 

Work Done

Miao farmer in the Qiangdongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou, China heading home from the field with his plow, hat, a load of firewood - and a big smile. Love the red boots. I am very much looking forward to my trip to China tomorrow.

Seminar

At some point during all my trips to China, I give a seminar on my work to the students and staff at Minzu University in Beijing (see Minzu and Thermos Bottles). These are usually pretty well attended. That's me on the left, Dr. Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez from Columbia University in the middle, and Hannah Stevens from The New York Botanical Garden GIS Lab on the right.  Our presentations were enthusiastically received. [NOTE: I talked about my community forestry work in Myanmar this time (see Shinlonga)].