Midu

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Midu(@1600m) is a small town about 2 hours drive from Dali to the south, the town is famous for its lantern festival during Chinese new year time. just another happened one a year destination, especailly the Mizhi village which had a road-signboard written in 4 languages(Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean)"Mizhi Tourist Town"! I was a bit worried before getting there...would it be another Disney village with monkey business? actually it had been kick started couple year ago with some action like...an international cross country run event, but seem like nothing happened afterward for the local tourism business, the village still quiet with its new paved street. Mizhi was a tea trading junction in the old day, said there are still many old temples and relics left inside the village, but most of them had be rebuilt. I hadn't seen any souvenir shop or guesthouses there yet, but...for a one a year happening place, not worth it! beside the lantern, the village also famous for one song that was once very popular in China, but I had never heard it before...shame on me!!!
Midu town still got an old quarter with some old houses, on market day the small lanes would filled with vendors, the atmosphere was great and busy, beside the Han and Moslem, I saw the Yi, the same tribe like those in Weishen, tower headdress and amber stone on forehead, metallic fabric for costume, front apron and baggy pant, this is the Dongshan Yi attire.
5 km outside Midu is an old temple site, now had been rebuilt into a nice looking temple complex. The Tiezhumiao temple could be date back more than 1200 year ago from the Nanzhao period, the only evidence left is the "tiezhu"- the iron pillar. the 3.3m pillar supposed to be an sacred ceremonial pole for the empire, to pray for peace and well of the nation, the historian said there should be a wooden bird on top of the pillar in the old day(could find the image in one of the new wall painting inside the temple). The pillar supposed to be in the open but now they build a temple hall enshrined it...for protection I guess! but...what for??? the pillar had already survived more than 1200 years in the open! Local said people would gathered here on the 15th of Lunar January, praying for a good year to the blackish pillar and making celebration. " very crowded on that day, dancing and singing!" a local man told me, sound like a good time to visit here.
Hongyan is another small township not far from Midu, and in market day you could see more of the costume's detail of the Yi, there are more women wearing costume with lovely headdress, same heavy metallic. The market was busy, most villagers came here by horse-cart of just by walk, this peaceful village probably got lively one a week!

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