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Published: April 4th 2011
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Tradition??? what is tradition??? I came to Funing looking for the Longduanjie festival, but all the answer I got was "NO! no celebration here!" many people seem like never heard of this festival? was my Chinese that bad??? The info from internet said "the Longduan festival came down from more than 700 year ago, and had never...ever...stop, they celebrated it every year in Guizhao town and in many different villages around the area within the Zhuang communities" and here I came into this Guizhao town and no one know about this festival! Some said nowaday they bundled up the whole thing and created a big one in Funing each year on the 3rd of Lunar March, yes...that what I'd heard, but that was extra and not traditional, and what was worse...they not even hold the big festival in Funing this year either! the reason is the 3rd March happen to be on the same day as the Qingming Day, "people will be busy and have no time" was the answer. well...guess I had to looking for some other entertainment now.
Anyways...Funing not a bad choice for hangout, warm claimate at 600m altitude, compared with other places now in Yunnan, the temperature
is rather comfortable here. the best about Funing was the wide choice for food, and they got some very good Cantonese restaurant which cook up great taste reminded me a lot about Hongkong. I'd came to Funing many times for the last 10 years, the town had been expansed, few years ago the new bus station area was kind of like the edge of town, but now...it became another center in Funing! Soon, there will be Funing Port, the biggest port in Yunnan, it will link up southeast China and that part of Asia by river route, heard I could even take a ferry boat to Hongkong from Funing Port in the future, and within 5 year there will be train into this part of Yunnan too, the Funing railway station is under construction, woahhh...what will become of this part of Yunnan!!! enterainment in town...I like to walked throught the back street behind my guesthouse every night after dinner, why? hehe...I feel like the most popular man in the world once inside the small lane, every women calling on me "hello, come here come here handsome...(sound like I was a puppy)", see...they all wanted me to go into their house,
I was so welcome...hahahaaa...I always collected more than enough hello handsome before I back to my own room!!! Nowaday accommodation condition improved alot, but you know what...I paid 30 yuans for a shitty room 10 years ago, and now...I still paid 30 yuans but...with internet connection already! inflation???? haaahaaa....
I decided to check out the east and northern area of Funing which I had never been before, although I didn't put much hope on minority scene up there, but still...that will will give something to do! deep inside I still hoping to find something unexpected and it also another chance to ask about the Longduan in the village as I still believe they will celebrate it somewhere. so...my list...Baiyou, Dongbo, Gula, Guizhao, Huajia(never made it up there as our bus was broken down, too late to get to Huajia)...market after market I went, with better road connection these day, I could do comfortable day trip. Zhuang is the majority in each market out there and their plain attire added no surprise to my cold passion, only in Gula the tartan head scarf instead of those ugly hand-towel made their appearance more pleasing, together with their shoulder bag which fitted more
to their images. Said there should be some Yi in those area but I hadn't seen any, in fact...I saw one Yi woman but she claimed she came from Pingyuan, just on business in Gula, but...woahhh, what a distant to came to Gula for selling orange!!! Anyways...the Yao provided the only costume scene in the area. there was 2 tribes of Yao in those area, one with a round silver plaque(the Panhuang Logo) on the top of their head, and tied with bunch of white threat and a headband, typical Yao indigo cotton shirt, wear trousers and small square front apron. I call them white-threat Yao but the local said they are Nandian Yao. the other tribe was the same tribe I had seen last year in Longyang Tiao-gong festival, with wide embroidery run along the lapel, they call Daban Yao as they wear their headdress like a huge plate, but you only could see they wear it during festival time. As it was near the time of Qingming, market tend to be more busy, people came to buy incense and paper gold and silver, pig and especially chicken was a must in their shopping list! What is Qingming? just
a day in the solar term, said after Qingming the cliamate will becomes clear and fresh, that why it call Qingming! but also this date in anicent time was the day for emperor to pay respect to their ancestor, so...guessed it was what traditional came from, and people just do the same every year. And what is Longduan? said...about 1000 year ago in the Song Dynasty, the empire send troop down here to suppressed the revolt, and when it was quiet down, to avoid future uprising, they tried thinned out the number of the man-power within the tribe, the emperor decided to deported or exiled the local minority to faraway land...Guangxi, Guangdong or Vietnam direction. so...everytimes when group of villagers had to leave town, those stay behind would prepared a farewell banquet in the field to feed them before the long march out. the time said to be around Lunar March, so...guess again with my empty brain...traditionally it came down until now, for memorial, the Zhuang people still held up feast, opera and became kind of market, and that was why it now call Longduan Jie.
News said in some area in China they had trained up some number(about 500)
of smoke inspector, they willl hang around some public area to informed or politely ask people not to smoke or kill out their cigarette, welll....seem like they mean business this time, hope it will work. But I only saw they mentioned bus station, train station, hospital...but...nothing about inside the bus! I began to wonder what is the definition of PUBLIC AREA now!
After the drabness market tour in the northern area, I added Muxiongping market into my list, hoping the southern area at least could cheer me up with the costume scene...I was greedy I know!!!! and I was looking for one tribe of Yi there call Hualuo, but...no luck! The area around Muxiongping was barren and hilly, you could easily witness the evident of human hand against nature in the landscape. poor was the only word came into my mind when I was on the bus. the market started really late, it wouldn't got busy well after 12pm. The majority are Miao, "two tribes" a local young man told me, the White Miao(in Heizhiguo they call Pian Miao) and the Flower Miao. The White Miao wear long plaited skirt, long sleeve jacket, along the collar has small square pattern
like those figure while you do defrag in your computer, patch of light blue or light green on elbow area. The Flower Miao are the general type you could see everywhere in Wenshan, Knee lenght plaited skirt and long sleeve tight shirt in shinny colour, front and back apron all with machine made embroidery. In the area also lived some Yi people, they wear long loose skirt and loose jacket open from the leftside. the most beautiful should be their headdress with many glass beads string hanging down from the back, but in Muxiongping you couldn't see any woman wear that, while in Muyang market one could see more details.
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