Rest in Moon Bay

Moon Bay (Ming Yue Wan) was our next stop after visiting a temple at the foot of Piaomiao Peak, with its 600-year-old tree.

We stopped at a cottage near Moon Bay and were invited by the house owner, one of Qing's friends, for a cup of Biluochun tea. Our tongues told us Biluochun was better than good, with natural flower and fruit fragrance. Its fragrance was strong, its taste heavy, and its colour fresh.

Qing led us to the Moon Bay village after the tea break, an ancient village long praised by emperors and tourists which, time and again, was attacked by the pirates hiding among the islands in the lake.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Emperor Qianlong visited the small villages and ordered the local governments to pave the streets with stones imported from other places.

The beauty and the calm environment of the villages attracted retired officials and famous people eager to escape the hustle and bustle of life in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) to build houses there. One of them, Deng Tingzhen (1775-1846), the Qing Dynasty governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who helped Lin Zexu (1785-1850) with the anti-opium activities in Guangdong, spent his later years there.

Behind every weather-beaten wall and wooden door were elegant pagodas, tiny gardens and peaceful houses decorated with precious woodwork.

The ancient houses built 300 to 500 years ago are still home to local residents whose ancestors once were high-level governmental officials, great poets and scholars.

Some owners charge one or two yuan for you to visit their houses, but often they show you around for free while they talk about the history of the houses and their ancestors.

"Many of the decorations of the house were destroyed during the 'cultural revolution' (1966-1976)," Xue Shifa, said as he showed us around his house. "The local government is considering rebuilding our houses for tourism and we will have to move out of here in coming years."

Xue and his family were told by the local government not to use air conditioners because that would destroy the houses.

We had a delicious supper in a restaurant which served local cuisine. The fresh fish and wild vegetables picked in the mountains were excellent tonics for our fatigue.