This is Mama Moon. I met her last month, while I was holidaying with family and friends in Yangshuo, Guangxi Province in China.
A very unassuming lady, full of wit and charm. She has never been to a formal school and yet, because of her enthusiasm, she can speak English (quite fluently, I should say) and can offer greetings in 8 foreign languages. Apart from that, she was very willing to offer any assistance to tourists in her village.She lives in Moon Hill village.
It must be destiny that I met her. Before I left for my travels to China, some one had told me about her. But I never thought that I will bump into her while we were having noodles at a stall in the village one morning. When we asked the stall owner as to where we can find Mama Moon, she was just in front of us!! Without hesitation, she took out a travel map with her name printed on it, introduced herself to us and then showed us 3 little books, with lots of testimonies from travellers from all over the world!! She also showed me photos of her being interviewed over CCTV in Beijing and Shanghai. I thought to myself 'What an achievement for this lady farmer from a little village!!' Amazing!
She then continued to tell us about what we can do around Yangshuo. She said ' Let me show you the local way....walk to old villages.....walk up the Moon Hill and cycle to Yangshuo...many people like.' Immediately, she left the bicycle by the road side and followed us!!
I told her that we were planning to walk to the next village, Longtang. During the 2 km walk, she told me that she was once a farmer. And then upon chance, she guided some tourists and they paid her 30 yuan for the day. She then realised that being a tour guide was more profitable. She is now 63 years old.
This is Moon Hill Park. It is the entrance to the walk up the Moon Hill. She assured me that it is possible for me to walk up, she also told me that she can carry drinking water for me, and can 'fan' me all the way up if I felt hot and bothered!! She even said that she can help me up.....I wondered what she meant. (??)
All the way to Longtang, she explained to me (in English) the history of the village, telling me about the typical life of the farmers, showed me the local fruits and flowers in the region. Everyone greeted her and called out to her 'Mama Moon...Yue Liang Mama'. It seems that everyone in the village is very proud of her. Every time she sees some tourists, she will run after them and then greet them. What enthusiasm!!
Of course, there were times when some people chased after her to have their photo taken with her, the famous tour guide of Yanghsuo!
I asked her how she got her name, Mama Moon. She told me some years back, she helped a Canadian lady on her way up to Moon Hill. The lady suffered some stomach cramps. She then tried 'gua-sar' on her. 'Gua-sar' is a traditional method of releasing wind, by scraping the surface of the skin with a coin or scraping tool and some oil. It worked! After that, the Canadian lady wanted to pay her but she turned down the payment. So, the lady gave her the name -Mama Moon.
In the midst of our conversation, she found out that Yenn, my daughter, was born in the year of the Horse. Immediately, she ran to the side of the road, pulled out a rush and 'folded' it into the shape of a horse and presented it to Yenn. How clever!
Throughout the walk, she gave us many 'presents' - an orange from a nearby orchard, a pomelo, a gourd, some flowers, some rushes....and whenever I asked a question, she is all ready with answers!! She even showed us some medicinal plants that can ward off mosquitos. And some to cure rashes and skin ailments.
Like in the photo below, she got some dried persimmons for me to try and also the dried long beans - she explained that it is one of the ingredients in the Guilin noodles I was eating when I met her.
After two hours of walk, she asked us, 'Hungry now....you come my place, my dauughter-in-law will cook for you...farmer's food?'. It turned out that she owns a restaurant. What a modest lady!
So here, you see the array of food that was our lunch. It was delicious - unprocessed rice and vegetables. Also a yam and pork dish! We had it with local beer and even had a pomelo for dessert.
Mama Moon is quite tech-savvy. She has a mobile phone, and she was getting some business calls. After lunch, she was very keen to show me her new hotel!! She calls it Mama Moon Hotel. It is a three-storey building and has just been completed. She told me the calls were from a group of people from Guangzhou who will be arriving the next day.
Next to the hotel was a building with this red banner across it. She told me that someone had built this school and tuition centre. It offered English classes and they had paid her a royalty to use her name. I then realised that she is quite a phenomenon in the village.
This photo is of me saying goodbye to Mama Moon (taken in front of her restaurant). Also note the basket on my bicycle - full of 'presents' from her.
So, although I met Mama Moon for only half a day, she taught me a great deal. She was so thankful when I paid her. She kept on saying .....'if you like, you pay me, if you don't like..no beautiful, you no pay'. I told her I enjoyed myself tremendously and I wish to visit again. She then took out a post card, and wrote in English - 'Mama Moon loves you!' She also wrote her Chinese name and gave me a name card. What an enterprising lady!!!
