tribaltextiles.info

Hi:
I have tickets to China in October, where I was planning to visit the Silk Road. Given current events in that region, I need a plan B and would be interested in suggestions for places especially worth visiting in SW China and about any festivals that might be occurring.

I travel solo, have been to 45+ countries, several more than once, and get around via a mix of flights, trains, buses and cars with drivers. This is my second trip to China. In addition to textiles and architecture, I am more interested in the daily life of the places that I visit than what my guide in Iran called "the history lesson."

While I've bought Minority tribal textiles and have a number of books about them, coming up to speed on where to go is a formidable challenge.

Thanks!

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Anna

Anna

Have a look at the websites of a couple of forum members who work in the travel/tourism industry in Guizhou. It might give you some ideas even if you don't want to formally sign up with them.

See Tony Chen (who is a Miao and has articles on the main tribaltextiles website) http://www.tribaltextiles.info/articles/Tony_Chen.html Any one of his articles has a link to his website on the bottom.

See also Wang Jun's website http://www.gzcyts.com/en1/ Wang Jun is a national guide who has worked with Gina Corrigan and arranged many tours for her - I have been on 3 of them and he is first rate. The guides with GZCYTS can all give individual support. I think that both websites I mention have a list of festivals, the dates of which, change year by year.

You might want to have a look at my China page on the tti website to give yourself a flavour http://www.tribaltextiles.info/Countries/China.htm and also see my diaries for my trips. Of course, everything changes so fast in China that all the individual details will have changed now.

Good luck!

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Thanks so much, Pamela, these are great starting points. I'm also going to see if I can visit some places in Yunnan too, so I'll take any recommendations there.

I'm now flying into Hong Kong and back from Shanghai, so I've shifted the whole trip.

I'll also take any recommendations for textile dealers - I know one in Shanghai, which is why I'm happy to go there last.

It breaks my heart to see what is going on up north and to miss Kashgar - the government is demolishing the old city and I hoped to see it before they do any more.

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Anna

Anna

You might want to ask Wang Jun about Yunnan. Gina has/is taking tours into Yunnan and Wang Jun is a 'National Guide', not just Guizhou local guide. I was in Kumming, in Yunnan, and on into Guizhou with him and also Guangxi - he liases with the local guides.

In Guizhou Kaili is a must to visit for textile 'shopping'. For me that might be good ending or penultimate stop. If you are in Kunming try and get to Green Lake as there are some textile shops (I think still) at the edge. Green Lake is within the city of Kunming.

Also accessible from Kunming but not in the centre, is the Yunnan Nationalities Museum which I thought excellent. http://www.ynnmuseum.cn/en/Release/1.asp?id=2 This is a section from my 2000 diary:

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Thanks again, Pamela. Any information on good places to shop is much appreciated because within a very short time, all the better pieces move to the larger cities.

I found your diary very informative and am especially grateful for the reference to the Nelles South China map, which I just ordered. This will save me so much effort.

Some useful sites
http://www.world-geographics.com/asia/c ... izhou-760/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calendar
http://www.chinahighlights.com/guizhou/ ... lendar.htm
http://www.chinahighlights.com/guizhou/ ... tivals.htm

I am also using the new book, Writing With Thread, as a guide to the sub-tribes which most interest me.

Off to do more research.

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Anna

While looking at the websites of a couple of forum members who work in the travel/tourism industry in Guizhou i just like Tony Chen tribaltextiles articles.

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