The Festival I Didn't Attend

China is dotted with minority villages of all sorts, and the most prevalent of the region in which I live are the Miao people. When my friend and travel mate got word that there was a special Miao festival taking place about 45 minutes away from where were staying, we decided it was too great a cultural experience to pass up.

We set out to catch a bus to the village where the festivities were taking place, which provided to be a more difficult task than imagined. After trying to find the bus station for an hour — mind you I was traveling with Chinese people — we finally found a micro-bus headed toward the countryside. Of course we hopped on.

The scenery along the way was breathtaking, and I became more convinced than ever that I live in the most beautiful piece of China. I completely lost track of time until the bumpy yet pleasant ride came to a complete halt. Apparently this festival is quite popular, but the tiny dirt roads can't handle all the traffic, especially after having been rained on for two days thus making them quite sticky to vehicle wheels. 

And true to form, most of the drivers got out of their cars to assess the problem, which accomplished nothing accept motionless vehicles that all needed to get to the same place. And so we sat and waited and napped and waited until I had almost lost my mind.

I believe, sans the aroma of stinky tofu, that I have acquired a great tolerance for many things in Chinese culture that would have once made me crazy. But something I don't understand about the Chinese is why they find it necessary to honk their horns incessantly when they know full well that it will resolve nothing. Why would an individual lay on their car horn for minutes at a time when half of the drivers on the road aren't even in their vehicles? 

After finally regaining motion, we were dropped off three miles from the fair because the parking was so bad the bus couldn't travel any further. I didn't mind. I wanted to move my legs after being stuck on a bus for hours. I enjoyed observing the minority costumes the Miao were wearing until I also observed that everyone was moving the opposite direction as us. Bringing this to my friends' attention, we soon discovered that we had in fact missed the fair all together and were now caught in a tangle of people who were moving toward the place we had waited so long to get away from. 

So we turned around, at this point up to our knees in mud, and continued walking. I kept trying to think of a comparison to this situation. I most likened it to a crowed day at Six Flags when the mass of people is overwhelming and the ride not nearly as satisfying as the long line would assume. 

While I did enjoy the beautiful scenery and the festive clothing, I think I would have been a much happier version of myself that day had I actually made it to the festival.