General Blogger

We have been blown away with the positive feedback that we have received from the press and users of Start Menu Reviver. We knew when we released the product that we would have a difficult time winning over some users because the Start Menu we created did not look like the old one, but once users tried Start Menu Reviver they were hooked.

So, today I am extremely excited to announce the upcoming release of Start Menu Reviver 2 !

Start Menu Reviver 2 will be available May 1st, 2014.

Start Menu Reviver 2 is a complete design overhaul from version 1. While most people loved the functionality of Start Menu Reviver 1, the most common complaint was that it didn’t look great. We have partnered with a designer and UX expert by the name of Jay Machalani to work on Start Menu Reviver 2. I first saw Jay’s work when his designs were featured on The Verge. I was immediately impressed with how much research and thought he had put into his designs. It is much easier to design things to just look cool and have horrible usability, but Jay put in the pain staking effort in his Windows 8 conceptsto make his designs both beautiful and usable. I was also drawn to his work because of how closely it resembled the general concept of Start Menu Reviver (which, incidentally, is just a coincidence). I spoke with Jay very soon after his article was published and he was willing to work with because he really liked the functionality of Start Menu Reviver but could see a lot of room for improvement in the design.

After some pixel perfect design work from Jay, Start Menu Reviver 2 was born. Here is what you will see the first time you run Start Menu Reviver 2:

And here is a better look at the design as it will appear on your desktop:

I think you will agree that is a much cleaner design than version 1 and it really does a great job emphasizing the most important apps and tasks for each user.

It is quite easy when looking at a product like this to judge it based on what content is shown in the product. The software itself disappears and can be easily forgotten about. Have you ever seen an empty Start Menu before? While getting out of the user’s way is the intention of the software, I think it is great to show off the product in its pure form. The below image shows of Start Menu Reviver’s true identity:

I personally love this view of Start Menu Reviver as it shows our work in its purest form, but for those of you who want to see more complete screenshots, I have a few extra for you below:

Start Menu Reviver UI elements

Alternative Color Variations

Standard View

Extended Menu

There was a lot of behind the scenes work to get to this point. Here you can see the original layout concepts that Jay produced for us, some of which did not get implemented for version 2 of Start Menu Reviver:

Design changes aren’t the only things we have been busy with here at ReviverSoft (although it has kept us very busy!). Here are the other changes you will notice in the new version of Start Menu Reviver:

OK, so this is not the real name, but this setting in Start Menu Reviver 2 has been added for people who don’t want the tiles at all and would prefer to just see the extended menu – Kind of like a traditional Start Menu.

When is the last time a Start Menu made you say ‘Wow’? Well, Start Menu Reviver is aimed to do this every time you press the Start Button. Here is what Start Menu Reviver looks when you open it.

I know that I have already touted the design changes in Start Menu Reviver 2 but a conscious effort was placed on simplifying the product. In some cases we had lengthy arguments over what to keep and what to remove. You will notice that we no longer have text in the left hand ‘charms’ menu. This not only simplifies the UI, but also makes the product look much better in languages where typical text length is longer than English. If you look at Start Menu Reviver 1 in English and then look at it in German you will see what I mean.

We also have replaced the ‘Recent’ charms option in favor of a ‘User Folder’ option. This was done based on user feedback and usability testing. We found that people are more likely to use a recent documents list within an application itself rather than the one found in the Start Menu. People also appreciated having access to ALL of their documents that can be found in their user folder. That being said, the Recent documents list has not been removed from Start Menu Reviver – you can still find it in the extended menu – you just don’t have to option in the left hand charms menu.

One of the great features of Start Menu Reviver 1 was the ability to add websites in your Start Menu. This enables you to directly access gMail, Facebook or whatever site you want with just a click in the Start Menu. In version 2, we have made identifying website tiles easier by adding a web icon in the bottom right corner of tiles that go to websites.

Now this has been a heavily requested feature and we are really excited to offer in Start Menu Reviver 2 – The ability to scroll down the tile view! This means you can add more tiles to your Start Menu (Up to 64 in fact). How cool is that! The below screen shot shows how the lower tiles are cut off and you can scroll to see more.

I’m sure there are many other things you will come to love about Start Menu Reviver when it is launched on May 1st. If you would like to be notified when the product is released you can do so on this page. All Start Menu 1 users will be notified via a product update when version 2 is released.

If you would like to read some more about why we developed Start Menu Reviver in the first place then please keep reading. For those leaving me now, I sincerely hope you like Start Menu Reviver 2!

When we were researching the product we saw that there were plenty of other companies who had made Start Menus for Windows 8, but they all looked to the past in their design. They were mostly replicas of the Windows 7 Start Menu and we felt that this was not complimentary to the vision of future versions of Windows. We also noticed that most of the other Start Menus on the market disabled the Windows 8 hot corners which are a key way to navigate Windows 8 and they also made it very difficult to get to the Start Screen which is where you can access all of the apps that make Windows 8 worth getting. What is the point in installing Windows 8 if you are just going to make it work like Windows 7?

Windows 7 was and still is a fantastic Operating System. It is stable, secure and performs great on devices with a mouse (or click pad) and keyboard. Windows 8 is designed to help Windows remain relevant in the world of ever expanding devices and the increased mobility of users. Although quiet often criticized, the Modern UI side of Windows 8 allows the OS to be used on a much broader array of devices including small tablets to laptops to massive touch screen monitors and everything in between.

A Start Menu for Windows 8 should work with touch, so that it can be used with the range of new computers being sold with touch screens. While it is technically possible to use a Windows 7 Start Menu with a touch screen,in reality the usability is terrible. Microsoft has some great informationon best practices for usability, which I have included below.

Microsoft’s guide to touch targets

Size vs. efficiency: Target size influences error rate

There’s no perfect size for touch targets. Different sizes work for different situations. Actions with severe consequences (such as delete and close) or frequently used actions should use large touch targets. Infrequently used actions with minor consequences can use small targets.

Target size guidelines

Source Microsoft

The problem with a Windows 7 style Start Menu is that most of the targets within the UI are too small to accurately hit with your finger, which leads to accidental clicks on the wrong objects, further leading to user frustration.

The Windows 7 Start Menu is functional but cannot be truly personalized. We wanted to make a Start Menu that really allows people to make it their own. Not only do we allow full control over what a user can pin as tiles, but we also allow users to change the colors of the Start Menu (from font color, to background colors and everything in between) along with allowing them to define what images they want to use for tiles. You can even use animated gifs as tiles!

OK there are some 3rd party Start Menu applications that will allow you to have Modern Apps listed in your Start Menu but in general the Windows 7 replica Start Menus just list desktop applications. With Start Menu Reviver you can access desktop applications, modern applications, websites and files (you can make a file or folder a tile for quick access) quickly and easily. It is your launchpad for anything on your computer.

Start Menu Reviver 1 is available today for download and has a ton of amazing features for you to use. It’s free, easy to install and I am sure you will love it. Head over to the Start Menu Reviver pageon our website and download it now. And get ready for Start Menu Reviver 2 on May 1st!

Recommended by ReviverSoft

Registry Reviver will find and fix problems, and restore optimum PC performance quickly, easily and safely.

Some courses provide such short placements in schools that the NQTs are being set up to fail. Photograph: Keith Morris/Alamy

There were simple but important ideas like, “don’t crack a smile until Christmas” and “let your TA leave early every so often”.

But the more teachers I spoke to, the more it became obvious that no amount of advice could make up for the lack of training that many NQTs have experienced.

There are around 230 providers of initial teacher training (ITT) in the UK and about 38,000 new student teachers are trained annually. Many of these teachers will not finish their NQT year. Sir Michael Wilshaw, Ofsted chief, suggests two-fifths of teachers quit within five years.

I have been a teacher for eleven years now and have been involved in NQT training for four. Increasingly over the last year, NQTs have raised issues with me about the lack of support they are receiving, and how unprepared and alone they feel.

Despite this, the annual DFE NQT 2013 sector level summary, which collects views from NQTs, shows that the quality of training they receive has improved from previous years.

However the information for the survey is collected very soon after the NQTs have actually qualified, so it may be that they aren’t entirely aware of what their career will actually involve. Just this month, a survey released by YouGovshowed a quarter of teachers say their ITT failed to prepare them for the management of poorly behaved students.

I used to be able to tell NQTs and young teachers that it would get easier; that they would become better at time management and more confident. But I now believe that schools do not have the skill base or time to support NQTs who are not prepared for teaching.

The routes into teachingare now often so short (a year or two) that there doesn’t seem to be the time needed to study the pedagogy behind teaching. Some courses provide such brief placements in schools that the NQTs are being set up to fail.

Teaching is a craft that takes time to learn and develop. It takes practice and freedom to reflect on what works and why it works.

The NQTs I know and work with have been thrown into teaching without adequate preparation – sometimes with devastating effects on their well being and mental health. In April, ATL found that more than a third of school and college staff have noticed a rise in mental health problemsin the past two years and over half of those working in education feel their job has had a negative impact on their mental health.

The 2013 teachers’ workload diary surveyfound that all school teachers report working over 50 hours per week and the number of NQTs contacting the Teacher Support Network about concerns with their workload has increased by 29 per cent in the first five months of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011.

I am not suggesting people should not get into teaching, but simply that they should go in with their eyes open. Teaching techniques and strategies can be taught – there is no unknowable knowledge that cannot be passed on. But many NQTs I work with are just not enjoying it. You cannot teach a love for the profession – and to survive in this job, you really need to love it.

The only truth I think any NQT really needs to understand is that you will never have enough time to be the teacher you want to be if you get caught up with the rest of the job. You will never get the work life balance right, in fact you will end up sacrificing what little home life you actually do manage to have as you move up the career ladder.

You will work ridiculous hours and you will need to be unbelievably emotionally and physically strong to be able to make a difference to children’s lives. But you will make a difference, because you will be there for the children on a daily basis. You will get to know them and support them and even when you feel you are failing, the children will know you are there for them and that will make the difference.

If you truly want to teach, you just have to get on with it. Ultimately, you recognise the system is flawed and enjoy the moments in-between the meetings, paper work, scrutiny and observations, and store them up for the darker times. Because unfortunately, there will be darker times.

• The writer of this piece has chosen to remain anonymous to protect the identities of the staff that she refers to.

Read more on becoming a teacher:

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Bijan Sheibani

To make the music microplay, Robin Frenchand I met with John Harris, who was at the NMEin the early 90s, became the editor of Select magazine and currently writes about music and politics for the Guardian. We discussed the ways in which music technology has changed within our lifetimes; music is now contained on our computers and phones, and in that way it is less tangible than it used to be. Our story started to become about the objects that music can be recorded on to, and what those objects contain. We became interested in the ways in which compilation tapes can contain and then communicate not just music, but memories – a set of feelings, a character, a relationship. A tape could be found again long after it was made and re-experienced by the listener.

This idea that moments of life can be recorded and re-experienced is one of the main preoccupations of a director. In film these moments are recorded and locked, but in theatre they are always in flux, and fleeting. Rehearsing is about pursuing moments when something true, moving, interesting or real is made manifest. In theatre you either set up the circumstances by which that thing can emerge, or you have to retrospectively analyse what it was that allowed that thing to emerge, and find the means by which it can be kept and repeated by the actors.

That doesn’t mean kept as it was the first time you saw it, but kept alive, with the possibility that it might develop into something even richer. You are trying to grow something that will eventually have a life of its own, and which will be nourished and developed, all being well, by its audience; by the responses that the actors can hear. It will always be changing. Like a chef, the director goes back now and again to adjust for taste.

A film, like a compilation tape, obviously doesn’t grow in the same way as a set of live performances. After the day of the shoot the potential content is fixed. And at the very beginning of the editing process you are confronted by everything you don’t have and will never have, everything you forgot to capture on the day of the shoot, or didn’t think was important to capture given the shoot’s nine-hour time limit. As that happens, the longing begins. If only I’d asked her to do it like that; if only he wasn’t moving on that line, then that shot could have gone after that one. It’s too late; the actors are on to their next jobs, or in the case of one of ours, back at school.

But as you start to assemble the film in the edit, the possibilities of what you can do with this limited amount of material begin to feel limitless, the number of configurations infinite. Then something logical begins to emerge. One piece of the jigsaw demands another, one decision leads to another, and eventually it starts to look like it might become a whole. A picture emerges, not the one you imagined, it never is, but if the thing is alive, it will grow as it needs to, and become the thing it needs to become. There comes a point where the edit, like the theatrical run, has to end. The end of the edit is called lock down, the end of a run is called the final night; a living process is condemned to the past.

But in our story the character of the listener is not in the past; he has grown older, presses play and listens again. Something has been recorded, something has been lost, but perhaps something new is being experienced by him too. In that respect a film, like a tape, like a play, is not a fixed entity, but may have differing interactions as the world around it changes, may develop other meanings the older it gets.

Off the Page is a series of six filmed microplays made by the Guardian and the Royal Court theatre. The project brings together journalists, playwrights and directors to create responses to issues in six key areas of our coverage: food, music, fashion, sport, education and politics. The next microplay, on the subject of sport, will be online on 24 November.

John Harris

The onward march of technology tends to make what was once arduous and complicated amazingly easy – something proved by everything from the aeroplane to the electric kettle. From time to time, though, effort and difficulty are not the only thing that supposed advances threaten to sweep away: with them, if you’re not careful, might go essential aspects of being human. This may be why an object as archaic as the electric guitar is still here; or why even the most carefully programmed drum machine is no substitute for some overheated Herbert laying waste to wooden cylinders capped with skins.

And so it is with the electronic reproduction of music. I am old enough to still find the MP3 miraculous. Equally, the business of streaming music and thereby tapping into an infinite jukebox occasionally seems to be the result of a strange kind of magic. But both ways of listening to music also offend against some of the fundamentals of how it should be done. Spotify can put the listener in a constant state of distraction; shuffling songs on an iPod destroys any notion of context, let alone original artistic intent. And what of the idea that music ought to be carried on a physical object; preferably one synonymous with a set of memories – a particular place, a relationship?

This is what Bijan Sheibani and Robin French’s microplay evokes, to wonderfully moving effect. It is unashamedly nostalgic, but it looks back at the world of 20 years ago with real wonderment. A lot of people will be familiar with the ritual it portrays: marking the first phase of a relationship by making a compilation tape to somehow describe yourself to the other person; cutting out your own cassette inlay; ensuring everything is just-so. It also gently celebrates the early 1990s heyday of the British music press, and specifically the NME: a product that was so of a piece with the tactile elements of being a music fan that the ink came off on your fingers.

Along the way, light is also subtly shone on recent developments that prove that supposedly old-fashioned ways of listening may never go away. In the UK, sales of vinyl records have been increasing since 2007, and are this year forecast to reach 1m– something that has not happened since 1996. Even the cassette, which received opinion has long condemned as a shoddy, unreliable format – something to which the play makes knowing reference – refuses to disappear. Inevitably, the latter is chiefly associated with a certain kind of neo-primitive hipster: Cassette Store Day, inaugurated in 2013, was born – but of course!– in the beardy London cultural paradise that is Dalston. But fair play: there is evidence of a modest uptickin sales both here and in North America, and a re-evaluation of its worth.

The last Walkman – changed the battery pressed play – Suicaine Gratification – sounding amazing – damn you iPod. pic.twitter.com/LQixHyZxEm

Last week, for example, the British musician Stephen Duffy offered his own tribute to reels of magnetic tape encased in plastic rectangles. I follow him on Twitter; back when this play is set, he and his group The Lilac Time released a brilliant album called Astronauts, at least one track from which would usually make it on to my own compilation tapes. On 14 November, he tweeted a picture of what was once called a personal stereo, and paid tribute to the third solo album by Paul Westerbergof those cultish American pioneers the Replacements. “The last Walkman,” he wrote, “changed the battery pressed play – Suicaine Gratification – sounding amazing – damn you iPod.”

There are a three secrets to making successful biscuits.

1. You have to be willing to get your hands dirty. Mixing with a spoon overworks the dough. Your hands keep things delicate. Plus, all that squishing and making a mess is fun. (Or put the kids to work. They’ll love it.)

2. Keep your butter cold. This ensures plenty of rise, rich flavor, and delicate layers of puffy biscuit.

3. Add lots of cheese. I mean LOTS. Because cheese is good.

Follow these steps and I promise you perfect biscuits every time.

These biscuits only take about five minutes of active work and 12-16 minutes to bake. This means you can whip these babies up in no time flat for picnics, last minute guests, or dinner parties.

The cut up biscuit dough can be frozen in an airtight container and stored for a few months. This means that if you want to double or triple the recipe and save some aside for quick baking later you can. Just plop them on a tray, sling ‘em into the oven, and sit back.

Cheese Biscuits Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 16 biscuits

I prefer Parmesan and plenty of black pepper for these, but feel free to substitute cheddar, feta, or your favorite blue cheese. Instead of scallions you can use chives or olives. This recipe is merely a guideline to making perfect cheese biscuits.

Ingredients 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour dash cayenne 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2 teaspoons baking powder (make sure your baking powder is fresh! no more than 6 months old or you may not get a good rise) 7 tablespoons butter, cold 2 scallions, finely chopped 3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese 3/4 cup buttermilk Kosher, Maldon, or Black salt for topping (optional; not table/iodized salt)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cayenne, black pepper, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2 Dice the butter into small pieces. If they get too warm then place them in a bowl and put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before continuing. Toss the diced butter with the flour mixture until well coated. (Again, if into tossing the butter gets hot in your hands place the whole mixture in the freezer for a few minutes.) Add the scallions and cheese and toss until well coated.

3 Add the buttermilk and mix with your hands until it just comes together. You may find you need an extra dribble of buttermilk, if so then go right ahead but do so judiciously. Do not over-knead.

4 Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead once or twice; no more. Form into an 8×8-inch square and cut into 2×2-inch squares and top with a bit of high-quality salt if using. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until golden.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

Chinese almond cookies are a trademark in Chinese-American cooking. Often relegated as a second string sweet to the more entertaining fortune cookie these don’t get the respect they deserve. Sure, they don’t tell you what a charming personality you have or offer a string of lotto numbers, but they do have a crisp bite and delightfully sandy texture. Almond flour, almond extract, and slivered almonds ensure that you get an intense flavor that will eclipse any paper filled treat.

Set out a plate of these for the upcoming Chinese New Year. Almond cookies symbolize coins and will be sure to bring you good fortune. Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Chinese Almond Cookies Recipe

Yield: Makes 5 dozen.

Ingredients 1 1/3 cups of almond flour, lightly packed 1 cup of unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes Pinch of kosher salt 2 eggs 1 teaspoon of almond extract 1 3/4 cups of flour 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda Thinly sliced almonds

Method

1 Place the almond flour, salt, and butter into an electric beater with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for three minutes. The mixture will become coarse and chunky looking.

2 Add one of the eggs, reserving the other for later, and the almond extract. Mix on low speed until just incorporated.

3 Sift together the flour, sugar, and baking soda then add to the butter mixture at low speed. Mix until just combined.

4 Take the dough and flatten it into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator for two hours to chill.

5 Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the other egg into a bowl and beat it.

6 Take pieces of dough and roll them into balls about three-quarters-of-an-inch wide. Place them on the sheet about an inch apart and then press them down slightly with your palm to make a coin shape.

7 Place a slivered almond onto each cookie and lightly press it into place, then paint the surface of the cookie with some of the beaten egg using a pastry brush or your finger (this will give the cookie a lacquered appearance once it bakes).

8 Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges just begin to tan. Cool on the sheet on a wire rack.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

There may be a time when you’ve added WordPress on to an already existing site, to perhaps power the news section or to just provide a blog or multiple blogs for people. If the site is small then it’s usually easier to just convert the existing pages into static pages, and use the CMS functionality of WordPress to power the whole site. However, that may not always be the case, especially with large websites.

Just because your site is external to WordPress doesn’t mean you can’t still include information and content from WordPress on the rest of your site

To do this all you need to do is include the following line of code at the top of any external file where you want to use the WordPress functions:

[sourcecode language=”php”]include ‘path-to-wp-directory/wp-blog-header.php';[/sourcecode]

The path to your wordpress directory needs to be relative to the page with the include in. The file wp-blog-header.php is in the root of your WordPress installation. Calling this file will automatically set the database connection to your WordPress install, and allow you to make use of any built in functions or plugin functions.

With this at the top of all pages it allows you to include additional information from WordPress such as

If you are just using WordPress to power your news section then the last option above could be useful. You could display perhaps the last 3 months using the limit parameter eg.

[sourcecode language=”php”]

[/sourcecode]

You can also include plugin functions, so you could display the recent comments on your news items or blog posts, or make use of any other useful plugin that you may have installed.

Today, businesses have to invest a lot of time and money in online reputation management simply because the majority of consumers use the Internetto find information about products and services. According to a study carried out by GroupM, 58% of consumers rely on information gathered online to make purchase decisions. As a result, any negative information on a business that consumers come across on the Internet is likely to lead to loss of sales leads. Consequently, by managing the reputation of your business, you would avoid losing loyal consumers. Tips that you can use to achieve this goal include:

Granted, no matter how hard you work to please your consumers, some of them will always feel that your products orservices are substandard. In today’s digital world, “disgruntled” customers often vent on the Internet, mostly be writing negative reviews on brands that they do not like. One way of countering such customers is by diversifying your web presence. Start by creating positive articles using keywords that consumers use to search for your business and publish them on your website as well as on your blog. This will ensure that web users come across a lot of positive information, too. In addition, create accounts on popular social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+.

Besides diversifying your web presence, you should also monitor search results related to your business. To start with, browse the web regularly to see the kind of information users see when they search for your business. However, do not just look at the first page of search engine results and then stop there. Instead, go up to the third or fourth page. What’s more, make use of free but very important tools such as Google Alerts that will alert if any new information related to your business appears online. Keep record of this information and the sentiment it elicits from web users.

Obviously, never get into arguments with disaffected consumers online because comments generated in such a confrontation will show up in search engine results for a long period of time. Instead, try to contact the unhappy consumers and settle their problems amicably.

While blowing your own horn is something that you might not be able to resist, you should encourage your customers to submit their reviews and testimonials submitted to various forums as well as social media sites. If your customers agree to do it, your business is likely to benefit dramatically.

Anchor text consists of phrasesor words that are hyperlinked. For example, you could use the title of a blog post to direct site visitors to another web page. It is important to note that search engines also use anchor text when determining the relevancy of web pages that use the link. To achieve the best results, link your web pages to authoritative sites. This will improve the visibility of that web page on search engine results. Never use link farms as this approach will only harm your online reputation .

Running a business involves more than generating stellar results every quarter. One has to take into consideration the perception consumers may have about the business. This is where reputation management comes in handy. Since most businesses have a web presence, this is where managing the business brand should start. Some of the tips that you can use to succeed on this front include using anchor text to link to authoritative sites, promoting consumer reviews, diversifying your online presence, and monitoring relevant search results regularly.

A checklist: four days, three ethnic village markets, stacks of smoked dogs, and one testicle stand.

Guizhou Province exuded tradition; it was China at its most authentic and at times its most eye-popping.

We paid a visit to the province, described in guidebooks as one of China’s most underdeveloped, to experience a group of ethnic village markets clustered around the town of Kaili. Although the timing of our visit did not coincide with any ethnic festivals (the standard draw for the relatively few tourists that visit the region), there was no shortage of everyday market pageantry and visual stimulation.

As China carves out its future, life across four villages in eastern Guizhou Province goes on.

The weekly market in Chong’an enveloped the entire village: fishermen assembled by the river, meat vendors (including the dog butchers) congregated in the center, ethnic hat and clothing makers gathered in small courtyards, and traditional medicine men, dentistsand barberslined the streets connecting it all.

A weekly gathering for Gejia and Miao villagers, the Chong’an market left no sales opportunity unturned. Hot body suction treatment and gut-wrenching open-air tooth replacementproved tempting, but we resisted.

A local high school girl befriended us early in the day. Armed with some English skills and an electronic translator, she guided us through her town and the market. Intent on showing us “the beautiful buildings,” she led us to the main road headed out of town.

As we picked through a village slowly being bulldozed to find images of traditional life and architecture, the beautiful buildings appeared: brand-new mixed use concrete structures on the right and a government-built Miao-style village in wood on the left.

Nothing could be more emblematic of Guizhou, and to a greater degree, all of China.

Minutes after our local bus exited the newly-built highway near Gedong, we made our way through a sea of ethnic Miao women navigating a muddy market area in their galoshes. Squealing pigs, indigo dye pots, chickens, ducks, dried fish, piles of incense, and stands devoted solely to animal testiclesrounded out a stunningly authentic village market scene.

After drawing looks, shaking hands and holding babies, we headed into the Gedong old town whose traditional single-story houses stood on the hill behind. We were welcomed with curious looks and smiles as a group of locals attended a gathering to mourn the loss of one of their friends. Others played cards and mahjongg in the open front rooms of their family homes.
Friendly ladies in the traditional part of Gedong, Guizhou.
Gedong featured its own “beautiful buildings” formed in gray concreteand finished with decorative nods to the local traditional architectural style.

Those games of mahjongg will likely be moved to those new buildings in the coming years.

Having braved Guizhou’s rolling hills and switchbacked roads in a local bus, we arrived in the Miao village of Xijiang to the hum of cranes and heavy machinery. Clouds of dust rose from the valley as construction teams built a new tourist center and a string of souvenir shops along the main street.

Miao houses of Xijang, Guizhou
Xijiang had become the latest preference for Chinese tour buses visiting “ethnic Guizhou.” It was postcard-worthy: traditional wood Miao homes rested on hilltops and overlooked zig-zagging rice fields. But locals had grown noticeably tired and jaded due to the growing tourist traffic.

The redeeming human moment: lunch . A group of Chinese tourists from nearby Hunan Province beckoned us to join them in a what looked like a dining room of a local home. We pointed to “vegetarian” in our phrase book, followed the cook into the kitchen, and pointed at vegetables and tofu to emphasize the point. While the man of the group insisted on piling unidentifiable meat chunks in our bowls, his sister clucked at him that we were vegetarians. She thankfully persisted in removing the meat and replacing it with tofu and green beans.

We didn’t share a common language, but we managed basic conversation, beer toasts, tea and smiles. Upon departing, we exchanged contact information with open invitations to visit them in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong.

The street market in the village of Zhouxi was in full swing when we arrived, but there was a strange, insular feeling about the place. It felt as if all the local Miao families were somehow connected in that “family tree doesn’t fork” kind of way. All joking aside, we wondered if the industrial center belching smoke nearby had something to do with the odd appearance that persisted throughout the village. The chronic burning in our lungs and noses indicated that it might.
Waiting by the river in Zhouxi, Guizhou.
We were approached on a bridge near the outskirts of the village by two young men who spoke some English. Their intentions were clearly very kind. They invited us to lunch and to practice English, but something about their manic speech patterns made us feel uneasy.

We attempted to excuse ourselves from lunch – we weren’t at all hungry – but agreed to take some photos with them. The next thing we knew, we were roped into eating zongzi (sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves). Seated on the family sofa in the English teacher’s living room, we unfolded our rice parcels as a roomful of people took in our every move.

Our host, the town’s English teacher, explained that his sister had died of cancer in her 20s and had left a young daughter behind. We again wondered about the effects of the nearby industrial plant.

We politely excused ourselves and expedited the photo session with the teacher and his adult students. The man who initially approached us bounced up and down in our faces as we departed, “I’m very exciting ! You are my first Americans. I am so lucky!”

After eighteen months on the road and an endless string of unusual experiences, we’ve learned to trust our gut. This village spooked us. The banjo track from the film Deliverancelooped in our heads.

There was nothing threatening happening, but the whole scene just hopped the strangeness threshold. Or maybe we were just over-stimulated. Anyhow, the return bus to Kaili couldn’t leave soon enough.

Not to be outdone by the surrounding villages, Kaili bursts with street markets – near the bus station, on side streets, in the old part of town. It was heartening to see traditional markets surviving in the shadows of shiny new shopping complexes.
Kaili’s bustling market streets. We hope these last.
Maybe Guizhou’s traditional markets and culture will survive all those massive development projects after all.

We can only hope.

Curried Egg Salad with Mango Chutney Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes Yield: Makes 4 salad or sandwich servings, or 32 appetizer rounds.

Ingredients 6 hard boiled eggs*, peeled 1/2 cup mango chutney 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 Tbsp mayonnaise 1 Tbsp chopped chives, green onions, or shallots 1/4 cup minced celery Dash of cayenne, more to taste Freshly ground black pepper to taste 8 slices bread (use gluten-free bread or serve with lettuce for gluten-free option)

* To hard boil eggs, place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with at least an inch of water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, let sit for 12 minutes. Rinse in cool water to stop the cooking.

Method

1 If serving the egg salad on toast, or toasted rounds, start preparing the toast with the sliced bread while you prep the other ingredients.

2 Roughly chopped the peeled, hard boiled eggs and put them into a medium sized serving bowl. Use the tines of the fork to press against the cooked egg pieces to break them into smaller pieces.

3 Add the mango chutney, yellow curry powder, salt, mayonnaise, chives, celery, black pepper, and cayenne to the eggs. Mix until well combined.

4 Serve the curried egg salad on lettuce for a salad, or on sliced bread or toast for sandwiches. If making appetizers, use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds on either plain sliced bread or toast, then spread the egg salad over the rounds.

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