AP-2009-07 - Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report

42travelsHaXiValleY,ChinaBy: JOSh FOREMANWo menascendedthedustymounta i nwearing Mongol garb. Theirwhite turbans were normallyblack, but this was a dayof mourning. Carrying traysladen with chili fish, smokedpork, rice noodles and candy,they marched to their ancestors’graves. Men sat aroundand gambled.The people who gather here everyyear are Bai, and this is their valley.In the southwest corner of a countrythat is more than 90 percent han Chinese,this valley is almost completely inhabitedby the Bai – an ethnic minoritythat has lived here for more than 2,000 years. The languagespoken here is Bai, the food, Bai. The blue and black tunics,inspired by hordes that invaded 800 years ago, are uniquelyBai. Everything in this place feels like China – with a twist.Down a cobblestone drive, on a small hill among fieldsof yellow colza, sits the theater of the King of Culture. Rustynails jut from the building’s fortified walls, but inside thestone and wooden theater, Wu yun Xin chats with local politicians,studies French and puzzles over what happened tohis Scotch.Wu, 34, is the caretaker of the temple – a spot whereparents have brought their children for good luck in theirstudies for 285 years. A few years ago, members of the localgovernment decided to turn the theater into a communitycenter. Funding ran short, and Wu was contacted. Theyasked him if he’d like to host visiting foreigners, and fortwo years he and his wife have lived here, serving as tourguides, cooks and ambassadors for the Bai.In April, Wu, a Bai himself, trekked up a nearby mountainwith dozens of valley residents and a few foreigntourists. The locals were celebrating Qin Ming, a festivalhonoring the recently dead. The Bai bury their dead on thebai women wear clothes inspired by mongol soldiers’ battle gear.mountains that dot this part of yunnan Province, and oncea year they climb to the graves and offer trays of meticulouslyprepared food, cigarettes and willow branches.On this sunny day, people from around the valley gottogether to send off spirits who, according to local beliefs,hang around their graves, unaware they’ve died. Grandmothersclutched their grandchildren. Relatives hacked atweeds growing around raised stone tombs. Fireworks exploded.At a table hauled up the slopes, a group of menplayed cards – $30 to buy in.After bowing, wailing, smoking and betting, men,women and children tucked into a Bai feast. Bowls of ricein hand, they dipped into dishes of sour pork lung, fishballs, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. They mixed rice andchicken soup with pickled cabbage, green eggs and honeyroastedpeanuts. A girl walked around and doled out handfulsof candy and sunflower seeds. A gold-colored dog trottedfrom group to group, hoping for spoils.After the feast, the women loaded baskets with theleftovers and headed down the mountain. Men stayed up,drinking and gambling until after dark.Sarah Shannon, a 31-year-old Canadian, attended thecelebration. Locals made her feel a part of the festivities,AP-2.indd 427/12/09 11:56:18 PM