China - Travel diary 2000

DIARY OF TOUR - MINORITY TEXTILES, LANDSCAPES AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF SOUTH WEST CHINA 2000 TOUR

WITH GINA CORRIGAN

Hong Kong | Kunming | Shilin | Xingyi | Longlin | Long Dong | De Wo | Da Shu Jia | Ma Wo | Xingren | Sha Jiao | Pao Ma Cheng | Zhenfeng | Zuo Qi | Bi Ke | Huangguoshu | Shitou | Anshun | Puding | Chang Tian | Xian Ma | Dai Lo | Guiyang

click to see map of trip

Wed 27 Sep 

19.00 Met up with Gina Corrigan and the Group at Virgin check-in desks at London Heathrow, Terminal 3.  21.30  caught Virgin VS200 to Hong Kong.

Thu 28 Sep

17.10 arrived Hong Kong, stayed overnight at the excellent YMCA ('The Salisbury'), 41 Salisbury Rd, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel: 00 852 2369 2211. Fax: 852 2739 9315, email: room@ymcahk.org.hk, http://www.ymcahk.org.hk top

Fri 29 Sep - Hong Kong

13.25 Fly to Kunming, Yunnan Province on China Southern Airlines CZ342 and stay 3 nights at Golden Dragon Hotel, 575 Beijing Rd, Kunming 650011, Tel: 86 871 3133015, fax: 86 871 3131082, email gdhotel@public.km.yn.cn, http://www.dragonhotels.com

Before dinner some of us went for a walk near the hotel and discovered a street market. After dinner went to small textile shops across the road from the east end of Green Lake. From the entrance to the gardens around the lake to the east end are restaurants and tea houses. Pleasant area. The textile shops have varied older textile items as well as new and 'tourist' pieces from various parts of the South West.  

Collected: Hanging back piece for a Yao boy's baby carrier; complete Yao (possibly a Dong) girl's baby carrier and Miao woven bag together. top

Sat 30 Sep - Kunming

We visited the excellent Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Haigeng, Kunming 650228 opened in 1995 and located near the Yunnan National Minorities' Villages in the National Resort Zone of Kunming, by Dian Lake. The museum has a total area of 130,000 sq. metres with buildings for display, demonstration, storage and research. It has a shop (with many minority textiles from the South West), a good bookstore and a teahouse attached. The Yunnan National Minorities' International Travel Service, a Grade B travel agency run by the Museum, can arrange for trips to the minorities' areas. (Business Contacts: Scientifical Education Dept Tel 0871 4311385, Development Dept Tel: 0871 4311216, Yunnan National Minorities' International Travel Service Tel: 0871 4311356, fax: 0871 4311394).

Collected: Woman's cape, probably Small Flowery Miao, similar to those from Nan Kai township in north west of Guizhou. Woven fabric similar to a piece on an 8-heddle Dai loom in the museum.

We had lunch at a very attractive new resort near the Minorities Museum.

After lunch we visited the International Garden Project (1999) where we saw a family where the grandmother had had her feet bound as a child. top

Sun 01 Oct - National Day - Kunming

In the morning we went to the Dragon Gate on Western Hill, Kunming and afterwards visited the nearby Buddhist temple which is the oldest in Kunming.

We had lunch in the centre of Kunming which was teaming with people as it was National Day. We then went to the Provincial Museum and saw the world famous collection of Warring States bronzes (with some good photographs of minorities currently using bronze drums) as well as the very limited minorities' costume hall (with English labelling). I also visited quite an interesting exhibition of oil paintings and photos, although with no English labelling, which seemed to be of scenes for China from the sixties to the present day. We then visited the very crowded bird and flower market where, at one end, there were some of the few remaining older buildings in Kunming. top

Mon 02 Oct - Kunming

We drove on the main highway through Yunnan which comes via Kunming from Vietnam to Shilin and the Stone Forest, a spectacular scenic karst limestone area. We stayed overnight at the Stone Forest Hotel, Stone Forest County, Yunnan 652211 (tel: 0871 7711405, fax: 0871 7711414) which is situated in the central part of the scenic area comprising the Stone Forest.

We saw a beautifully dressed Black Miao girl sewing outside a shop near the hotel as we went to visit the Sani (part of Yi minority) village at the edge of the lake in the Stone Forest. A few of us then had fun negotiating for textiles with the tough Sani textile traders at the edge of the lake before exploring the Stone forest which, after a heavy shower of rain, was thankfully almost deserted and very atmospheric.  

Stone Forest, Shilin, Stone Forest county, Yunnan province

Collected: Shilin, Stone Forest county, Yunnan - Sani: girl's hat; bag with patchwork; bag with old inside and nice ties; belt; baby carrier piece. top

Tue 03 Oct - Shilin

We drove on a 9 hour journey to Xingyi in the remote south-west of Guizhou Province stopping for lunch at a good local restaurant in Luo Ping after which we had a short walk around the town and I photographed an (unknown) minority girl in one of the shops. We stayed at the Panjiang Hotel, Xingyi, Guizhou 562400, tel: 0859 3223456, fax: 0859 3222670.

Today’s town of Xingyi was built in 1987 based on a small town with a 200 year history. It has 100 year-old wooden houses and 850,000 population in the City region and 200,000 in city itself. It is capital of the Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture where Han are in the minority. It has historically been a prosperous town/city because of its location 35km from the border with the south Guizhou autonomous region with its major tourist spots. It has a large brewery which provides 2/3 of the income of the city.

Before we dinner walked around the old centre of the city, including an interesting old lane with stalls and traditional medical treatment, and also visited the food market. top

Wed 04 Oct - Xingyi

We visited the Malin River Gorge, 8km to the east of Xingyi, which was formed 2.4 million years ago. It is 74.8km long with an average width of 130 metres and average height of 250 metres. The river is known as 'the river of waterfalls'.

We returned to Xingyi and, before lunch walked around the old city and also visited two basket shops and saw cotton duvet making next door. We had lunch at a good local restaurant.

After lunch we drove on through outstanding rounded karst mountain scenery, stopping for frequent photographs, to Longlin, Guangxi Province where we were based for 3 nights. The area is known as '10,000 peaks' and we drove through the eastern 10,000 peaks forest. The minorities are mainly Miao or Bouyei with Bouyei occupying the better land at lower levels. We went past the Tian Sheng Qiao (Natural Bridge) Dam built between 1990-99.

The town of Longlin has obviously seen recent rapid growth - probably as a result of the building of the dam. It is a town with 50,000 people in Longlin county in the very poor Pai Su Prefecture, Guangxi - a region seldom visited by tourists. It is at 1,000 metres of altitude. The county is multinational with Han, Zhuang, Miao, Yi and Bouyei. There are six types of Miao.

At the hotel the 12 of us took all the rooms 'with facilities'. top

Thu 05 Oct - Longlin

We drove down single-track unpaved road to Long Dong Village, De Wo township, Longlin County, Guangxi province. This is a Side-Comb Miao village 35km to the south of the town of Longlin. We were probably the first group of western visitors to go to this village.  

We were welcomed by musicians and what seemed like most of the village waiting to greet us with alcohol in gourds. All the younger girls were wearing very glitzy materials in their jackets. All was carefully organised with women with decorated baby-carriers to meet us and various items, particularly baby carriers in embroidery and batik, hanging over the house balconies. In and outside three houses there were young women demonstrating waxing batik and embroidering strips both for the top of their skirts. Outside one house there was a large pottery jar over which water was draining through potash prior to being made into a dye mix of indigo paste, bought at the local market, and vine roots. We were shown a spent dye vat and then went to a house in which a woman was working with an active vat dying the waxed batik lengths. The rolled length was first put in water and beaten and shaken to wet thoroughly before being put into the dye vat and left soaking for 10 minutes. It was then removed, the roll loosened and part-dried so that the layers could oxidise and then the roll was replaced into the dye vat. This process would be carried out a total of 12 times.

We then went to a house outside which male musicians played and danced we were offered roast corn on the cob (maize). This was followed by our purchase of textile items.  top

Long Dong village, De Wo township, Longlin county, Guangxi province

Collected: Side-comb Miao, Long Dong village, De Wo township, Longlin County, Guangxi province: embroidered back piece (assembled from smaller pieces) for baby carrier; embroidered strip for woman's skirt; batik indigo dyed length for woman's skirt; painted wooden comb 'side-comb' for married woman's hair; bamboo needle weaving covered needle holder with hanging beads and coins. top

We had lunch in De Wo township followed by about 2 1/2 hours in the very busy 6-day market and saw Side Comb Miao, Red Hat Miao, Flower Miao and one or two White Miao. A group of Flower Miao had been particularly invited by Mr. Woo, the head of the local bureau of tourism, to come from their village in Zhu Chang township bringing textiles for us to buy. This township is 16 km from De Wo and involved a 5km bike ride and a 3 hour walk. The Flower Miao were joined by Red Hat Miao who had come from a village 8km from De Wo, involving a 11/2 hour walk. The Side Comb Miao, with around 4,000 population, are in the majority in the De Wo township.

De Wo market, De Wo township, Longlin county, Guangxi province

Collected: De Wo market, De Wo township, Longlin county, Guangxi province: Flower Miao, women from Zhu Chang township, Longlin County, Guangxi province: Woman's jacket; hemp batik indigo dyed length for top of woman's skirt. Red Hat Miao, women from village 8km from De Wo, Longlin County, Guangxi province: woman's jacket; 1/2 of a cotton batik, indigo dyed length for a skirt; woman's embroidered apron. Side comb Miao, De Wo township market stall Longlin County, Guangxi province: man's woven turban length. top

Fri 06 Oct - Longlin

We visited Da Shu Jia village, Zhe Lang township, Longlin county, Guangxi province and 6km from Longlin itself. It was originally a Clean Water Miao village but it had absorbed influences from (and probably intermarriages with) Red Hat Miao and White Miao.

We were greeted with a performance by a troupe of young (and some very young) boys and girls. This comprised mainly dancing with a song, flute and Jew's harp solos. The performance and troupe was organised by an upper middle schoolgirl - who sang us farewell on our bus! The troupe’s clothing was very glitzy and had influences of various groups especially Clean Water and Red Hat Miao. There were women demonstrating waxing batik skirt lengths. We were able to purchase textiles and, as our interest in the older pieces was seen, more interesting things appeared. The girls from the dance troupe helped the older women who were doing the selling to negotiate with us and write and read figures. We then walked through the village scrambling up a steep slope to get back to the village square. The youngsters from the dance troupe had a wonderful time 'helping' us all!  top

Da Shu Jia village, Xin Zhou township, Longlin county, Guangxi province

Collected: Da Shu Jia village, Xin Zhou township, Longlin county, Guangxi province: Clean Water and Red Hat Miao: woman's apron; very fine batik hemp/ramie skirt length Red Hat Miao style; old style Clearwater Miao woman's jacket; old style Clear Water Miao woman's sleeves; old style Clear Water Miao waist tie. top

We returned to Longlin for an excellent lunch at a restaurant in town and returned to the hotel to leave our purchases and use the facilities. We then set off by road for a White Miao village - Ma Wo village in Zhe Lang township, in the south west of Longlin county, 18km from Longlin itself, Guangxi province. The road was a single passage mud track and wound around and up into the mountains with sheer drops at times. After all the recent rain the road was very muddy and eroded where streams came down to the road. We learnt afterwards that the road had been improved especially for our visit and, in places, we found that further repairs had even been carried out prior to our return journey.

When we arrived at Ma Wo village we were absolutely amazed to find huge numbers of people, mainly White Miao, waiting for us including a lot of the men as it was still part of the 7-day National day holiday. We estimated that there must be easily 1,000 people present from several villages who had turned our visit into a festival. They were lining the path and gathered up the hill in what was a natural amphitheatre. It was clear that there had previously been few western visitors to the area.

We were welcomed into the village by an old man and young women pressing us to have alcohol from gourd cups. There was a field of hemp growing right beside where our bus was parked. During our stay we saw the older woman continually splicing lengths of hemp as they stood around. In the village itself they had laid on excellent displays of the hemp preparation and weaving processes preceded by a demonstration of milling. We saw a woman see-sawing on a stone which was flattening and softening the spliced hemp and then we saw a woman winding hemp thread off a swift-like wooden cross wheel to untangle it and re-splicing where the thread had snapped following the washing and softening process. The hemp thread was run and coiled in a bucket. There was also a woman demonstrating winding the spliced, still green, hemp onto bobbins prior to the washing and bleaching process. There was one woman formally demonstrating the splicing process and a couple of girls working on embroidery and reverse appliqué. top

We were then led down to smallish flat field (from which the crops had just been cut) where some very nervous young girls danced for us to the accompaniment of a very rickety cassette player. This was followed by a group of men playing a game with stones trying to 'steal' them from the one in the centre of their ring who was trying to protect them. Whoever captured the stones then went into the centre of the ring of men. The children were especially excited by everything and we were surrounded by a large crowd at all times. We were then lead on down to a lower field where two men were to be seen on a giant see-saw with additional men hanging near to the pivot. There were then speeches of welcome and responses from Gina Corrigan and Deryn O'Connor which were filmed for local television. We were then free to go up to were many women were selling textiles. The majority of these were White Miao but there were also some Red Hat Miao and Flower Miao. The White Miao women were obviously not used to selling their textiles outside their internal market.

We left the village around 4.30 and drove back down the track stopping a couple of times for photos. We had a good show and tell after supper at the hotel! 

Ma Wo village, Zhe Lang township, Longlin county, Guangxi province

Collected: Ma Wo village, Zhe Lang township, Longlin county, Guangxi province: White Miao - women's head pieces - with embroidery, with sequins on cross-stitch, all appliquéd; woman's back ties/sash with 4 ties; woman's back ties/sash with several pieces; old woman's apron from wearer.  top

Sat 07 Oct - Longlin

We drove back to Xingyi along the same road through the 10 thousand peaks forest. The weather was grey and misty. We had a couple of spells of 'walking on' and it was amazing how, once you were in the open, what looked like empty countryside was full of voices from people busy working on the terraces mainly cutting and threshing the rice crop where the land could support it.

Had lunch in Xingyi at the same restaurant as before and then went to a provincial museum which was in a beautiful old building which had been the largest landowner's house in Guizhou. It had managed to survive the Cultural Revolution although statues had been destroyed. It now houses 4 rooms of photos and artifacts related to the wedding and other festival customs of minorities. There was no English text, it seemed that the Chinese text was incorrect and lacking in detail, but some of the photos were quite interesting. The displays were very dusty and the whole place had an uncared for air although apparently there are plans for renovation. We stayed again at the Panjiang hotel.  top

Sun 08 Oct - Xingyi

We set off early to drive to Xingren stopping at our first village which was originally a White Miao village, Sha Jiao in Wan Teng Township, Xingyi metropolitan (former county) area 40km east of Xingyi, Guizhou province. This village was beautifully tucked into the landscape. We were welcomed by 6 girls singing and three men playing the lushen pipes and a drum. We were offered alcohol three times by pairs of girls as we made our way up to the village and into the school yard. The girls danced for us and the men played. As it was the busy harvest time there were not very many people around, only some older women who came with their textiles to sell, the 6 girls and young children. There were two types of indigo batik skirts in the village - one with the main skirt all batik and then cross-stitch in red and yellow around the bottom (Red Hat Miao style) and the other a batik skirt with broken lines of red embroidery dotted around it but with no bottom border (the 'original' Clean Water Miao style).

Gina got talking with Xiao Wang to an old man (70) and a woman of 60. The woman said that the village had originally been a White Miao village and they had worn white skirts. She herself was a Clean Water Miao and had married into the village. Various other Miao had also come into the village and intermarried - Flower Miao and Red Hat Miao and also Han. The old man said that his wife had originally made 16 skirts as they had 4 sons and she planned to give 4 skirts to each of the sons' wives. However, one son married a Bouyei so there were spare skirts although when she came to visit the village she would be expected to wear the village skirt. There would also be spare skirts so that a woman could be buried in a hemp skirt. The village received perhaps 6-10 tourist group visits a year. Xiao Wang had feared that the village would be very commercialised but we all enjoyed the visit as we were received with freshness and charm.  top

Sha Jiao village, Wan Teng township, Xingyi metropolitan area, Guizhou province

Collected: Sha Jiao village, Wan Teng township, Xingyi metropolitan area, Guizhou province: various Miao - child's hat; collar lapel Clear Water Miao style; back pad/apron; embroidered baby carrier square.  top

We drove on to Xingren and checked into our hotel. It had originally been intended that we should stay in Anlong but plans were changed as, following the heavy rain, the road between Anlong and Zhenfeng was very difficult for motor traffic.

After lunch we set off for a Side Comb Miao village, Pao Ma Cheng, in Teng Jiao township, Xingren county and 20km to the east of Xingren itself, Guizhou province. However, a bridge was down so we had to go by a roundabout route to get near to the village where we left the bus in the township and walked the last 1-2km down a lane to the village through the rice fields with the mountains all around. When we arrived at the village there were a couple of musicians and we were met by an old woman and a younger man. Some demonstrations had been arranged for us of batik, winding the spindles prior to weaving, girls doing embroidery and a woman cutting a paper-cut for embroidery. The older women had their hair up in a knot at the side with a comb and the young girls had their hair up over woollen roll-like pad. We were offered tea and alcohol in what was obviously the head man's house with pictures of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao looking down on us. We were then able to buy from the selection of textiles hanging around on a fence in front of the headman's house. After we had finished buying we had a demonstration by one of the girls of how the Side comb skirt was put on and all the pleats arranged. It was a beautiful walk back to the bus in the evening sunshine with the Miao coming back from working in the fields and then, near the bus, a lorry dropped off all the young men from the nearby market.  top

Pao Ma Cheng village, Teng Jiao township, Xingren county, Guizhou province

Collected: Pao Ma Cheng village, Teng Jiao township, Xingren county, Guizhou province: Side Comb Miao - Child's jacket; batik for back of baby carrier; woman's woven apron with woven ties; 2 embroidered pieces for a woman's jacket joined together; embroidered triangle for woman's jacket; cross-stitch embroidered strip for skirt. top

Mon 09 Oct - Xingren

We had a leisurely drive to Zhenfeng at one stage 'walking on' through Balin township.

At Zhenfeng we had lunch at a not very good restaurant with one of the two rooms very dark. After lunch we checked into the hotel and then left for a Black Miao village, Zuo Qi, about 3km from Zhenfeng. The village is in Min Gu township, Zhenfeng county. The Black Miao had migrated from the Kaili region in the south east of Guizhou.

On arrival we were walked to a rather odd enclosed area which appeared like part of a derelict factory. We were then welcomed by a few girls in festival dress plus a plump middle aged woman who was very much in charge. We were welcomed with alcohol and tea and a short, rather inexpert dance followed by 2 men mixing sticky rice. We were then offered this with crushed maize which gave it some flavour and it was quite palatable. One of the girls showed us how to put on her costume including putting on the very complicated head-dress. We were then taken up into the main village to be shown some embroidery and complex weaving outside what seemed to be the headman's house (and probably where the plump woman lived). She was the weaving expert and demonstrated weaving the natural cotton which would be died a very dark indigo and used for the women's aprons. This is dyed with green crystals (gentian violet) pounded into the fabric which, when slightly moistened, stays a metallic greenish colour. If it is rubbed or gets damp or wet it will turn a purple colour. Various parts of the costume have these gentian violate crystals applied. The young girls all seemed to be very inexpert with the sewing and weaving skills unlike the older women. We had the opportunity to buy. The embroidery was very fine indeed and the work probably the finest that we had seen to date. There were one or two Bouyei as we walked back to the bus.  top

Zuo Qi village, Min Gu township, Zhenfeng county, Guizhou province

Collected: Zuo Qi village, Min Gu township, Zhenfeng county, Guizhou province: Black Miao - Baby carrier; embroidered back piece for a woman's jacket; woman's head piece with embroidery; woman's head piece with embroidery, sequins and beads; woman's woven apron; 2 pieces of complex weave gentian violet dyed fabric.

We went back to the hotel and had a very good and beautifully presented dinner in a new restaurant which had only just opened outside the hotel. Our local guide, Joe, came to say goodbye as he would be leaving us at lunch time the next day.  top

Tue 10 Oct - Zhenfeng

We set off next morning for the largest Bouyei village in China. The road was a stony track with beautiful scenery. The valley was much wider than we had seen previously and, in one part, it opened up into 3 dolines (where caves in limestone had collapsed).

When we arrived at the village - Bi Ke village, Min Gu township 10 miles east of Zhenfeng, Guizhou province - they were not ready to receive us so we went and looked into a school and watched the pre-school and first year children in class learning by rote.

When the village was ready to receive us we watched one woman winding off a skein of cotton thread and then went into a house where a woman was weaving. We also watched two women - young and old - with three very young children who were raking out the rice to dry. There were not very many people around in the village because it was in the middle of the busy rice harvest period.

When we were eventually able to buy textiles there was very little put out initially but, gradually, as the women saw what was going on and what we were interested in buying, more and more women appeared with textiles to sell and it turned into a mini-market and attracted quite a crowd, especially as the lunch time was approaching. Most of the woman were wearing their traditional costume as part of their everyday dress. We had a demonstration using one of the young girls, specially dressed to meet us, of how her white turban was wound and arranged.  top

Bi Ke village, Min Gu township, 10 miles east of Zhenfeng, Guizhou province

Collected: Bi Ke village, Min Gu township, 10 miles east of Zhenfeng, Guizhou province: Bouyei - 2 metres dark indigo plain weave cloth; light indigo blue plain cloth; 4 metres light blue and beige woven striped cloth; dark indigo/white plaid; finer blues and white plaid cloth; 3 embroidered silk triangles for front of apron; woman’s dark indigo apron; piece of natural woven ramie or hemp.

We then drove back to the restaurant outside the hotel for lunch and Joe said goodbye.

After lunch we drove on to Huangguoshu where there is one of the most famous waterfalls in Asia. The scenery on the way was some of the most magnificent which we had seen with range after range of peaks. We stayed overnight in a quiet part of the Huangguoshu Hotel and had dinner in the hotel.  top

Wed 11 Oct - Huangguoshu

We left Huangguosu around 9.00 a.m. driving up the road into the mountains above the town and saw the falls in the distance. After a short drive along a rough road alongside quite a wide river we arrived near the Bouyei village of Shitou (meaning ‘stone’), Guizhou province. There were beautifully constructed stone houses with archways and shaped windows. The situation by the river was very attractive and it had small cascades and rapids and was crossed by stone bridge. Although it was one of the first minority villages to be opened up to tourism and the old women fabric sellers where quite persistent it was well worth visiting. Several of the old women were dressed in the traditional costume. They are obviously still doing batik although the pieces for sale to the tourists were not so fine as that for their own clothes. When I bought a jacket from one old woman and wanted to take a photo, a younger girl insisted that the woman dress up properly and put on the jacket which I had bought from her.  top

Shitou village, Huanggousu township, Zhen Nin county, Guizhou province

Collected: Shitou village, near Huangguoshu falls, Guizhou province: Bouyei - Woman’s head covering; woman’s jacket; dark blue/black indigo batik; blue indigo batik; piece of waxed batik before dyeing. top

We then drove to Anshun, again through beautiful mountain scenery but with wider valleys in which there was considerable horticulture. In Anshun, at the suggestion of our driver, we visited a small private batik factory owned by two brothers. We saw all the various stages of the batik from making the stencil, waxing, dyeing with chemical indigo, rinsing, ironing and sewing up. Apparently there used to be a big batik factory in the town but there had been large layoffs of workers and it had subsequently closed down.

Collected: Anshun batik factory: a small hanging depicting a Bouyei woman.

We then went to lunch and photographed a couple of old Bouyei women in the area by the restaurant. We then went to a beautiful shrine of Wen Miao in the back streets of the north of the town of Anshun. It dates back to the early Ming Dynasty and was restored in 1668. There was an exhibition of minorities' textiles especially batik. 

We then drove on to the town of Puding, 25km north east of Anshun and stayed at the Qing Yuan Hotel. (There had been some concern that the there was no hotel booking for us despite it having been arranged long before but, in the event all was well.) As we arrived about 3.00 p.m. we had time to have a good wander around the old town. Down along the river we saw 2 men wearing thick corn husk back protectors who were picking up stones from the river bed and hauling them up onto the bank and into baskets before loading the baskets on their backs and staggering off with them. We also saw a ‘medicine man’ with a monkey in a cage and a bird of prey plus many medicinal compounds and curiosities. We wandered through the old streets and ended up drawing a large crowd whenever we stopped – especially children. It was clear that they were very unused indeed to seeing any westerners. We met a young and older woman who were both teachers of English. The younger one, in particular, spoke very good English.  top

Thu 12 Oct - Puding

During the night there was some very heavy rain but which had eased to a slight drizzle by the time we left the hotel for the 15km drive to the north of Puding to the landing stage on the Ye Lang Hu Reservoir to pick up the boat which would take us to a White Miao village, Chang Tion, in Cheng Guan Township, Puding county. The reservoir was completed in 1997 and the valley flooded. There used to be a very big village of 7,000 households (30,000 people). All is submerged including a bridge. At its deepest it is 80 metres deep. We travelled on the boat for about half an hour before scrambling up the side of the reservoir and being led up to the village by 2 men and 3 girls along a path, very muddy from the rain. Two of the girls, who were sisters, were from the village and the three girls put on traditional clothes during the boat ride. One wore Side Comb style clothes and the other two looked more like Red Hat Miao. The village was obviously very poor and undeveloped and many of the clothes were torn and worn. Some of the houses still had thatched roofs with wattle and daub walls.

There were a small number of women dressed in their festival clothes to welcome us and we saw an old loom which had been used by more than 3 generations over 100 years. There was one woman wearing a black hemp skirt and another wearing one woven of ramie. They seemed to mainly grow ramie. One woman went and cut some sticks of ramie and the women demonstrated how to strip the bark from the twigs and then separate the ramie fibre from underneath using a shaped bamboo scraper. They then demonstrated splitting and splicing the ramie fibre.

We discussed funeral customs with them. The dead will usually be buried in hemp or ramie or, perhaps, cotton. A woman from around when she is 50 will start to make her funeral clothes or those of her husband. If she has not finished them by the time she dies her daughters or daughters-in-law will complete them. The clothes are similar to those worn for festivals. On the face will be placed a square of white hemp and the body will also be covered in a white hemp cloth. A string of hemp will be tied around the waist under the shroud. There will be fabric shoes on the feet and a spare pair of shoes placed with the body (made of rope or straw or perhaps cloth).

The women, especially one, were tough bargainers and the needlework was generally not very fine but there was some very fine batik on one skirt and on an old baby carrier which Deryn bought.  top

Chang Tion village, Cheng Guan township, Puding county, Guizhou province

Collected: Chang Tian village, (off Ye Lang Hu reservoir) Cheng Guan township, Puding county, Guizhou province: originally a White Miao village but Side Comb and Red Hat Miao style clothing now: woman’s apron; woman’s black back ties; bamboo ramie stripper.

We then caught the boat back and, en route, had a packed lunch and picked up 2 Miao from one small village along the reservoir and deposited them at another. When we landed we went to where silver fish raised in the lake were being sorted before being chilled and hauled and flown to Japan where they fetch a high price. We then went back to the hotel in Puding. We had time for another walk around the streets of the town and then had dinner. We had a cake for Gina’s birthday. top

Thu 13 Oct - Puding

Drove 40km to Xian Ma village, Hou Chang township in the north west of Puding county, Guizhou province. The village had groups of both Big Flower (reputedly similar to the Big Flower Miao in Weining county in the north west of Guizhou) and Side Comb Miao. The village had been exposed to the influence of missionaries in the past and Xiao Wang said that when he had previously taken some Americans to the village they had been able to sing hymns in English and Mandarin to the same tunes.

The drive to the village was through wonderful scenery with mountains, a deeply cut river and rice paddies. There were stone houses with end gables of slabs of slate-like stone placed to give a point. These seemed to be beautiful, mainly Side Comb Miao. The drive took longer than anticipated as the road which we should have driven on was impassable because of a rock fall.

On arrival we stopped at the village school. Several of the Big Flower Miao and Side Comb Miao girls were dressed in festival costume and gathered in the playground for us to photograph them. We then walked down quite a steep and long path to a Big Flower Miao where a woman of 60, Li Jiang Ying, and her family received us. She had been taught to speak apparently beautiful Mandarin by the missionaries. She was a fine weaver (of hemp and ramie) and batik artist. She showed us 2 beautiful batik skirts which she had made and Gina purchased for the British Museum collection. (In the photos the ramie on the left and the hemp on the right.) She had a couple of skirt lengths which had been waxed and indigo dyed and were waiting for the wax to be removed. It was clear that the wax is applied to both sides of the cloth. There was a Side Comb Miao woman with a baby was visiting the house. top

We were shown balls of hemp fibre which had been spliced and a large ball of ramie lengths straight from being stripped from the twig and ready for splicing. Li Jiang Ying and a younger woman showed us how the ramie was spliced and insisted on giving us examples of both the ramie and hemp fibres. Apparently ramie is preferred over hemp because it is lighter in colour and therefore it does not take so much work to whiten. It is bleached by washing in a water and potash mix and then laid out in the sun to lighten for ‘as long as it takes’. There was another form of resist indigo dyeing on hemp/ramie which was achieved by a stitch resist. One woman was wearing a skirt in the technique, there was a baby carrier and our hostess was wearing a very worn apron. Apparently this was found to be more hard wearing than batik and presumably less time consuming for more ordinary wear.

We saw baby carriers (Big Flower and Side Comb) and carrying baskets and the back-protecting pads made of corn husks. We also saw the machine quilted fabric pad which the women wear tied around their waists to hang at the back to give protection from the rubbing of the heavy baskets. Deryn wanted to buy a carrying basket but the man of the house (presumably the woman’s husband) insisted on giving it to her. He came out with another carrying basket and asked who wanted it and, before I could stop myself, I said that I did. He insisted that it was a gift and, much against his wishes, I gave him a ‘gift’ of Y30. He insisted on walking up the hill with us and helping us as we scrambled up a (different) path to get back to the school. 

From here we were invited by two women to visit a group of Side Comb houses. There they showed us clothing and various batik pieces. We went back up to the school where we had a (very short) opportunity to buy both Big Flower and Side Comb textiles. In general the batik work of both Miao groups was the best that we had seen on the whole trip. We were made very welcome in this village by both Miao groups and we were reluctant to come away.

We had lunch in Hou Chang township and then drove back to Puding stopping for one or two photo-stops. At one of these, in a Side Comb Miao village by the roadside, some of us photographed a few of the older women wearing their traditional costume as every day wear and they brought out and modelled 3 baby carriers for us.

On our return to Puding some of us went out to purchase plastic wrapping and more string for packing up our purchases ready for travelling home. We had an enjoyable supper in the hotel.  top

Xian Ma village, Hou Chang township, Puding county, Guizhou province

Collected: Xian Ma village, Hou Chang Township, Puding county, Guizhou province: Big Flower Miao – woman’s batik skirt; woman’s cape, possibly with the woven wool dyed with natural dyes; striped ramie; spliced ramie; spliced hemp; Side Comb Miao – woman’s jacket; batik baby carrier piece; indigo ‘butterfly’ stitch resist apron; 2 pieces of batik; and batik strip. top

Sat 14 Oct - Puding

We left Puding after some problems with the hotel which tried to charge for an ink spot on a coverlet which had been there on our arrival. We drove through pleasant scenery in which many bullocks were ploughing to a Black Miao village - Dai Lo village, Shi Zi township, Ping Ba county, 15km east of the Puding county border, Guizhou province. The village was one where Gina and some of our group visited 2 years before and had a very happy time. We were met by the village secretary and taken to the roof of an old school where a group of girls sang and danced for us. We saw some braid being woven and some embroidery being sewn and then we were able to buy.

It was very squashed on the roof but we were unable to go down to the ground. It seems that, after the last visit, the village secretary had been accused of receiving one million Yuan from Gina and not sharing it. Our visit was nearly refused. After the girls’ dance Xiao Wang read out a list of their names and gave them presents purchased by the secretary. It seems that he had asked for girls from other villages to come and dance for us. I bought a jacket from the woman who had been demonstrating braid weaving and it has on it some of the rather ugly wool braid similar to that woven in the demonstration. There were at least three old Lao Han women in the group. top

Dai Lo village, Shi Zi township, Ping Ba county, Guizhou province

Collected: Dai Lo village, Shi Zi township, Ping Ba county 15km of Puding county border, Guizhou province: Black Miao – woman’s jacket; woman’s embroidered apron; woven border for bottom of woman’s skirt.

We then went on to Shi Zi township and enjoyed a fairly typical Guizhou lunch which I found very tasty. It had rather more peppers and spices than we had usually been having. We arrived at the Holiday Inn in Guiyang around 4.15 p.m. and found that all but 2 rooms were not cleaned or made up. We went out to dinner and then a few of us had an fresh orange juice in the bar of the hotel – for which they would not let me sign! I was not impressed with it as part of the Holiday Inn chain.  top

Sun 15 Oct - Guiyang

It was raining all day and quite cold. In the morning we went first to the Provincial Museum which had a well displayed section of minorities’ galleries with textiles, some artifacts and good photos. We then went to a couple of antique/gift shops, one of which had very good art paper and brushes including some paper made from silk and soaked in bamboo pulp. I bought 2 metres at Y20 a metre and a blank concertina paper book with brocade end covers.

We then went to have some lunch near the Pavilion where 3 Dong waiters (a girl and 2 boys) sang 2 Dong songs to us. They had excellent voices. After lunch we went into the Pavilion where we had a tea ceremony with 4 different teas. We then went to the gift shop and I got a new book on Guizhou and some gifts for the office. There were some very good, albeit expensive, textiles upstairs. The Pavilion would be a very pleasant place to visit when it is not raining!

After this we went to Xiao Wang’s home and met his father, mother and wife. His father played for us on a traditional 2 stringed instrument.

We then came back to the hotel and changed and went out to a restaurant for an excellent banquet where the drivers – Mr. Chen, the bus driver, Mr. Xu, the luggage van driver – and Xiao Wang joined us to eat. After dinner Xiao Wang and Gina said goodbye to us as they were flying to Shanghai first thing in the morning.  top

Mon 16 Oct - Guiyang

It was again raining for most of the day. We left the hotel around 9.00 a.m. and Katherine and I went to the main Post Office with Xiao, our new guide. We both sent our parcels by surface mail which would supposedly take 1 month – sea mail would have taken 2 months. Cost me Y13 for the box and Y786.5 for mailing and insurance. In the event, the parcel turned up safely in around 2 weeks!

We then went to the Yang Ming Monastery in the west of Guiyang near Guiyang Normal University. Weng Yang Ming was a philosopher 600 years ago and came from Nanking. He was a high official in the Ming dynasty. We then went to the Wen Chan 9 sided pavilion in the east of the city and then to lunch.

After lunch we went to the Cheng Ling Monastery. The place was throbbing with life as it was one of the 3 annual Buddhist festivals. I was then dropped at the hotel while the others went on to the bird and flower market. We had dinner at a restaurant outside the hotel.  top

Tue 17 Oct - Guiyang

We left for the airport very early and caught the 13.10 China SW Airlines flight SZ413 for Hong Kong. 

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