Southern Yunnan Province – Colorful Minority Groups, Stunning Terraced Rice Paddies, and Traditional Architecture

c)Southern Yunnan Province – Colorful Minority Groups, Stunning Terraced Rice Paddies, and Traditional Architecture

We spent two months in Yunnan province in Southwest China, which is surely one of the most interesting provinces in China. Over one-half of its inhabitants belong to an ethnic minority, and the province is home to one-third of the country’s official 100 million minorities. In addition, Yunnan is China’s treasure house of plants and animals, giving the province nicknames like the “Kingdom of Plants” and the “Garden of Heavenly Marvelous Flowers.” The terrain ranges from tropical rainforest to glaciated, snow-capped peaks. The people have been very friendly and welcoming. In short, our experience has been fabulous.

One of the highlights of our time in Yunnan has been our passages among the minority peoples, who are recognizable by their distinctive costume, each group different from the next. I often had the impression that I was attending a Mummer’s Day Parade or some sort of festival, and we even thought in the first town that we came to that there was some sort of holiday or religious event. We soon realized, though, that the women that we saw were simply wearing their everyday dress! Everyday dress for many of these groups included very brightly-colored robes, aprons, skirts, and fabulous headdresses, often adorned with beads, feathers, metal trinkets, and/or coins. Some were flashy, while others were more reserved, but they were all without a doubt distinctive and imaginative. Some had costumes made entirely from small colored beads, including very large headgear from which thousands of brightly-colored beads hung. Others had patterned hats that were approximately 3 ft. in diameter! As we reached higher altitudes, fur cuffs and decoration were added. Many wore sheepskins in order to protect from the chafing of the baskets that they carried on their backs. We were constantly amazed at seeing these different populations in their traditional costume, which was so different from the majority Han Chinese, who wear Western-style clothing. It is generally only the girls and women who wear traditional costumes and headdresses, and they wear these in everyday circumstances – even to work in the fields or on construction projects.

The scenery has been a feast for the eyes, as well. After the scorched mountains of Laos, we entered China in the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, and the area was very well preserved. There were rubber trees, stepped tea terraces, and very high mountains and cliffs. Forests galore awaited us, and provided shade for us on the tough mountain roads, protecting us from the harsh sun. What a change! What a treat! As in Laos, there was very little traffic, and very few villages, in fact – most likely because we opted for the small, winding mountain routes that took us away from the main roads and the heavier traffic.

After the mountains, the stepped rice paddies, and the terraced tea fields, came our first city – a town called Mengla. Big signs with large Chinese characters screamed „Chinatown!“ Thin neon tubes arched over dark streets and round red Chinese lanterns framed entrances of hotels and restaurants. Clothing and shoe stores attracted many shoppers (China is definitely a land of shoppers!). In the main square, across from our hotel, old Chinese folk practised the martial art of Tai-Chi en masse to the strains of traditional music – just like on TV!

Our first adventure in China took us off-road along a muddy path to the Xishuangbannamengla Park, which consisted of a dense forest and a small trail by a cool stream. We held our breaths as we walked 40 m. (120-ft.) above the ground along a 500-m. rickety walkway that was suspended between the “Looking at the Sky” trees – so named because of their height and fast growth. Entry to the park was $4.50, which included $0.25 of life insurance! It was all a bit crazy, as was the sight of the women dressed in very fancy, glittery dresses for an outing in the park. They wore huge, fake flower bouquets in their hair, as well as tinsel and silver leaves that stuck out of the ensemble, looking like the Statue of Liberty! They all wore exactly the same dress, only in different colors, and they carried lace-fringed umbrellas and wore high heels – to climb a muddy trail in the mountains! The glaring contrast of the brightly colored women in heels on the muddy road was quite funny. The contrast was even more striking when you saw a group of them (all in green!) squatting down in the dirt around a common bowl of meat and chewing noisily and spitting bones on the ground!

We spent close to one week biking in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, the subtropical south of Yunnan province. About one-third of the region’s population is Dai, while another third is Han, and the last third is composed of other minorities and hilltribes. The biking was very difficult because of the steep roads, but at least camping was easy, and we even stayed with locals in small communities a couple of times.

That was an especially rewarding experience, as we saw even closer up how the local people live and we were able to have an exchange of sorts, with the help of our phrasebook, which the Chinese loved. It was a sort of game. We even managed to have political discussions of the leaders that they liked or disliked. Eating at the locals’ home was a real treat, even if we sometimes had a hard time swallowing the strange dishes (including, several times, dog meat). Always they tried to eagerly show me the PROPER way to use chopsticks, eventually giving up with a “Good! Good!” and a sympathetic smile. The people proved to be very friendly. Strangers even offered to pay for our meals at restaurants or sometimes invited us to join their own meals in guesthouses! Drinking is a huge social sport in China, as we found out. The men consume beer like it is going out of style. And they clink glasses to say “cheers” EVERY SINGLE TIME they raise the glass to their lips! We were expected to do the same – it’s actually quite fatiguing!

We biked most of the route in Xishuangbanna, but opted for a bus to cover the unpaved portion of the road that turned nightmarish in the rain. We bounced up and down on the rocky path in the mountains on a centuries’-old bus on tiny stools in the bus aisle, squeezed in between chickens, watermelons, large sacks of rice, and oily tractor batteries. A crazy mountain fog obscured everything – even the oncoming trucks. A torrential downpour turned the weather from very hot to VERY cold, and we pulled out our winter jackets, hiking boots, and gloves! It had fallen to only 70-degrees, but compared to the 90- to 100-degree weather that we had become accustomed to, we were freezing!

Leaving the Xishuangbanna subtropical region, we entered the magical Yuanyang world of terraced rice paddies. This region is reputed to have the most magnificent rice paddies on the planet. They occupy the steep terraced slopes south of the Ailao Mountains, and are beautiful beyond words. They take on different colors at different times of the day, sometimes reflecting the sunlight in their pools of water and sometimes taking on a golden or orangish hue. The terraces reached to the hundreds, each one stepped upon the next – it was an awesome sight in a region of stunning beauty. Forested mountains, flowing rivers and streams, and hillside towns with women in colorful and varied costumes completed the picturesque scene. We spent days biking in the mountainsides, most of it on tiny, cobble-stoned trails. At each bend in the road, we were amazed to see such scenery of unequalled beauty.

After leaving the rice fields behind us, we descended into an agricultural plain and the town of Jianshui, which is supposed to be the most traditional town in southeast Yunnan. The town was like a living monument. Virtually every main street has an historically significant traditional structure, and that doesn’t even include the old-style back alleyways. The classic architecture of the old buildings was stunning and surprising. The town also has a lot of small shops that sell really cool, trendy clothing. Men played traditional instruments under trees in the shade of the imposing Chaoyang Gate, while others smoked and played cards. In the evening, old men flew homemade kites from the top of the gate, while other long-bearded men read tarot cards or fortunes. Jianshui is known for its water pipes made from bamboo of the surrounding region, and there are many such stores. But it is known even more so for its Confucian temple, which is the second-largest such temple in the country. It was originally built 3200 years ago (what a country that has such a history!). After watching a traditional music concert, we saw people burn joss sticks, which are enormous incense candles up to nine feet long that are burned in the hopes of making wishes come true. The most expensive joss sticks are for students asking to get a high score on an exam – and if they don’t have enough money for the largest stick, they have to content themselves with wishing for a lower score!

One of the highlights of southern Yunnan before we hit the provincial capital of Kunming was climbing the mountainside of Xiu Shan Park, where trails and cobblestoned walkways led us to many temples, towers, pagodas, pavilions, and a bonsai and camellia garden. The buildings all have poetic names, such as White Dragon Temple, Jade Emperor Temple, Heaven Mirror Pavilion, Sea Moon Pavilion, Laurel Fragrance Palace, the Abode of Immortals, and Heavenly Bound Bridge. It is one of southern China’s most sacred Buddhist sites and was a haven of relaxation and calm.