Mile Torch Festival

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For the people in Mile, Torch Festival was kind of routinely ritual, one was obliged to walk the street with fire I guessed. So everyone brought a rod of rattan(almost 2 meters long), roaming the street with fire held high, but once the heat got too hot while the fire-line descend, their torch would laid low like a tail trail behind, finally it would be abandoned by the roadside as there was no way the put off the fire. I didn't know what was the meaning the festival were for those people, but by wasting so many wood-fire and created ton of carbon dioxide everywhere in Yunnan??? Was it worth??? Oppp...through the dying fire by the roadside, someone lite up another torch, sure...they had fun!
Beside the fire, there was bull-fight near Mile, it was first time I seen bull-fight in China, two beast knocked each other off by their head, the show of energy and power. At some point it was live and dead, the roaring of the winner sound no less than a lion.
I heading to Dongshan on the festival day without any information, only hoping to find something more authentic. the town was rather quiet when I got there. Local said it was early and there will be wrestling held on the festival ground, "not far from here" the woman said, followed her finger pointed and tracing the footsteps of other people I got to the festival ground, vendors had already setup their merchandise along the hillside, and people dominated their space under any shady area. By instinct I spotted people dressed in colour and there where I went. Later find out those were the local ethnic group in Dongshan townships. The most outstanding was the Black Yi, the long-tail hat with many silver buttons was an eye-catcher. They wore long sleeve gown, the back is longer than the front part. Chest decorated with silver studs and plaque, front apron hanging down from the neck, wore long trousers. the White Yi set their hair together with cotton thread, rolled up like a disc tube wrapped by a scarf or more cotton threads, and tied with a silver studed head-band. Long sleeve jacket open on the right side with embroidery on arm and cuff area. Sleeveless vest and top with an front apron full of embroidery. They wore long trousers too. The Ah-wu Yi wore plain shirt and top with a sleeveless vest, front apron similar to the buyi's style, crown style hat with black cotton thread decorated with silver ornaments. Then there was Zhuang similar to the Quibei style, and finally the Miao commonly seen in Wenshan area. (but in Hongxi and Xinshao market one could see another type of Miao wear an heavy jacket full of embroidery). Their appearance here was to performed a (un-experienced) dancing show before the wrestling game, yeah...small town festival, but it was far more better than any well government organized festival, at least this is a festival for the local, for themselves, not for those so-called important invited guests, anyways...those colour dressed people disappeared right after the dance. I stay on for a few round of the game and made my departure too. People kept pouring in while I was on my way out. For them...could squeezed together under the hot sun, sit in open and ate whatever they could buy from the vendors, or just hang around was fun. How simple!!! I wish I could live with that and life could be far more easy for me.

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Comments

[HELENA AND JEFF]

MILE and DONGSHAN FESTIVAL
Hi, we met this year in Zhemi and later you met our friends Peter and Fanny in Santai. We just have 1 question. When (on which date) was the festival in Mile and Dongshan? Kind regards.