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When we traveled to China 6 months ago, we had planned to attend the Lusheng Festival, a festival of the Miao ethnic minority group. But it turns out that the festival was not held on the originally scheduled date. They had postponed it to coincide with their town's anniversary celebration. Because we had been unable to attend that festival, Wang Jun had suggested that we come back at this time of year, so that we could attend the Sister's Meal Festival, a much larger Miao festival that centers around courtship.
The festival is held tomorrow, several hours away, near the city of Kaili. We had visited Kaili on our last visit as well, so we were familiar with the area. After enjoying a wonderful sleep in our large, comfortable room, we woke up around 7 a.m. We took showers, and went to breakfast at 8:30. It was delicious (corn beef hash, quiche, chocolate chip muffins, charcuterie, bacon, toast with fresh jam, cheese, chicken sausage, dumplings, cereal, fruit, orange juice, and coffee). We returned to the room at 9:30., finished packing, checked out, and hit the road at 10 o'clock. It was the first non-sunny day of the trip, but that meant the long car ride was cool and comfortable. We arrived on the outskirts of Kaili and had lunch at a tourist restaurant run by Miao and Dong ethnicities. The Chinese majority population (Han Chinese) have historically not been very interested in the culture of the various ethnic minorities. But Wang Jun explained that is now changing. Han Chinese are starting to travel to minority areas for tourism, and they want to learn about the cultures of the various ethnic groups. But they don't always have enough time to visit multiple villages which are a distance apart. So two of the minority groups banded together to create this more "Disneyfied" version of a minority village, built for the sake of tourism. Some buildings are built in the Miao architectural style, while others were clearly Dong (drum tower and wind and rain bridge). It had only been in operation for around two years. The restaurant is very large (built to accommodate tour buses), yet built in the traditional style. As we approached, the employees (young Miao and Dong men and women dressed in traditional costume) greeted us. Two young men played lusheng flutes to welcome us, and a young woman held a cup to our lips and poured in a mouthful of rice wine. It was strong, and we felt a small kick from that one serving. We climbed the stairs to the dining room, passing a water feature which incorporated a traditional wooden water wheel. There were murals painted on the ceilings depicting various aspects of Miao and Dong culture. The restaurant was decorated with all kinds of traditional craftsmanship from both ethnic groups. The furniture was very substantial, and featured elaborate wood carvings. In the bar, there was a faux cherry tree in bloom. The restaurant was huge and largely empty but apparently it gets very busy for dinner. For lunch we had local spicy specialties: tang yuan (my favorite: They look like donut holes, and are filled with a liquid mixture of sesame powder, peanut powder, sunflower seed powder, and soybean powder), sticky rice tea, delicious tofu and chilis, a root vegetable, greens, a spring roll wrapped in bacon instead of a wonton, and beef with chilies. Craig had a beer and I had a JDB sweet tea. After our nice lunch with Wang Jun and Mr. Zhou, we wandered the grounds admiring the drum tower. We noticed that all of the little details were carefully thought out: the streetlights were shaped like lusheng flutes, trash barrels were shaped like granaries, etc. There were shops, hotels, and restaurants which served local specialties, including water buffalo, dog, and deer. After that we drove downtown and checked into the Zong Heng Hotel for the second time in 6 months. We were in room 1601 this time. We went up to the room and got settled. At 3 o'clock, we met Wang Jun. We walked a block to the Kaili Minority Museum, a grandiose structure behind the square. We had seen the building on our previous trip, and had wondered what it was. It looked like some kind of like Grauman's Chinese Theater, with a flashing LED sign displaying red Chinese characters. Wang Jun bought our tickets and guided us through the second floor. He focused his attention on the Sister's Meal Festival exhibit, explaining to us what we would be witnessing tomorrow. Miao girls between the ages of 14-16 are dressed in traditional finery, including elaborate silver jewelry and crowns which may have been in their family for generations. They dance in front of the village boys to try to gain admirers. When a boy fancies one of the girls, he begs her for some rice. The rice is colorful, dyed with flower petals and leaves. No girl can refuse to give rice to a potential suitor, but she will add a token of her feelings toward him in the rice, wrap it up in a large leaf, and give it to him. When he opens it, he will know how she feels as follows (the progression is from worst to best):
We enjoyed exploring the collection of artifacts related to different minority groups, including costumes, architectural models, furniture, tools, etc. At 4 o'clock, he gave us some free time and said we'd meet in the lobby of the hotel at 7 o'clock for dinner. We continued to the 3rd floor of the museum on our own. The first section was devoted to various minority festivals, with examples of lusheng flutes, dragon boats, and representations of water buffalo fights. We then admired exhibits of minority crafts. Many of these crafts were familiar to us from our prior trip to several minority villages in Guizhou. For instance, there was a lot of information about embroidery techniques and the signifcance of the imagery in the embroidery. We saw wax-resist batik, a technique that I had gotten to try on our prior trip. There were colorful farmer's paintings on display. We saw clay whistles, inkstone, bamboo bird cages, and medicinal plants. Then we saw the real showpieces: silver ornamentation (delicate crowns, chunky necklaces, large chains, collars, bracelets, earrings) often depicting bird, dragon, flower, and dragonfly motifs. In one case, a large pendant was engraved with Beijing 2008 and the Olympic rings. It was stunning. This silver is passed down from generation to generation, and is still worn today. In fact, we would see it being worn by participants in the Sister's Meal Festival tomorrow! We knew that the museum was scheduled to close at 5 p.m., so we kept up a good pace, photographing as we went. We were working our way through the final exhibit (mannequins dressed in the traditional clothing of various ethnic minorities). We had fifteen minutes until the museum closed, and about 10 more minutes of exploring. Perfect. Until a security guard approached us and gestured that he was locking up. At 4:45. He ushered us out. As we exited, we passed a film crew recording an interview in front of one of the exhibits. This must be why they were closing early. Then we walked around the square. It is always full of energy and life. It was a weekend, and families were enjoying activities together. Kids were bouncing on trampolines and in bouncy houses. Toddlers played in a sandbox with a variety of toys. Kids held fishing poles over a kiddie pool stocked with a combination of live and plastic fish. Kids purchased plaster figurines and sat at outdoor tables painting them. And, our favorite: the vehicles. These are kid-sized vehicles which can be rented and driven around the square. Some are whimsical inflatable cartoon-inspired cars. Others are scale replicas of real-world vehicles, from a pink convertible Corvette to an army tank flying the Chinese flag. We went to a new store called Royal Baby to look for something for our yoga teacher Jenny's baby. The proprietors seemed thrilled to have westerners in the store, and took a photo of us shopping. They followed us around attentively and were quick to take anything up to the register for us as we picked it out. We wanted something that really represented China, so we chose a dragon T-shirt with matching shorts, as well as a pair of tiny panda socks. While walking back to the hotel, one tween-aged girl seemed particularly interested in us. We noticed her watching us. She gestured to ask if she could take a photo with us. When we said yes, she ran excitedly to her mother. Her mother took out her smartphone to take the photo, but the little girl stopped her. She wanted it on her own smartphone. She dug out her phone, handed it to her mom, and posed with us. We took a photo of her in her pink dress and rose crown. As she and her mom went on their way, she had a skip in her step and kept looking back at us with a big smile. We went back to the hotel at around 5:30. We rested and sent some e-mail. At 7 o'clock, we met up with Wang Jun and Mr. Zhou. We drove to a Miao-themed restaurant which specialized in sour fish hot pots. Wang Jun ordered one like they would cook for locals, and the waitresses warned him that tourists never eat things as spicy as he was ordering. He insisted they didn't know who they were dealing with here. And at that moment, he and Mr. Zhou christened Craig the American Chili King. We had rice wine which came in a lovely fancy clay jar tied with a red ribbon. Craig correctly guessed from the taste that it contained honey. To me, it tasted like rocket fuel. It was probably good that Wang Jun had only bought a small bottle for the two of us to share, as we had a big day tomorrow and this stuff had a kick. The hot pot which simmered away on a burner on our table contained trout in a hot and sour broth. We also had "crispy bones," stinky tofu, addictive pineapple naan, and sweet potato balls. Everything was delicious. The stinky tofu was much less pungent than what we had eaten at the panda center, and we actually enjoyed it. Rice was served in crockery, and all of the plates, bowls, and cups were thrown pottery. Wang Jun noticed the necklace that I had bought in Fengjie on the Yangtze River Cruise. He explained that he has a similar one. He identified it as the God of Mercy. Then he told me that men usually wear this god, and that it would be more appropriate for me to wear a laughing Buddha. I was glad that he told me, and now I would be on the lookout for a laughing Buddha pendant. When we had eaten our fill, there was a single sweet potato ball left, and they brought me a little to-go container for it. When we got out of dinner, it was raining, so there was no evening activity in the square. On our last visit, we had enjoyed observing the evening activities: watching group exercises, ballroom dancing, and kids driving the vehicles. We would miss participating in the community night life, but it was probably for the best as we had a big day tomorrow and wer could use the rest. It is hard to go to bed on time when fun activities are occurring! We arrived back at the hotel shortly after 8:30 p.m. Wang Jun was preoccupied by tomorrow's weather forecast. They were predicting rain. Water would ruin the young women's costumes and silver ornamentation, so the outdoor spectacle portion of the festival is not held when it is raining. Craig and I didn't want to get worried as it was nothing we had any control over anyway. We would accept it either way, because it is what it is. (Yoga has helped us with this mindset). We thought that Wang Jun would actually be more disappointed than we would if it didn't happen, since he felt some degree of irrational guilt that we would have made two unsuccessful attempts to attend Miao festivals within six months. And it was the timing of the festival that made our visit to the waterfall land on the second busiest time of the year. We reassured him that we had no regrets, and that we were sure it would work out as it was supposed to. If he believed that destiny caused us to meet, then we needed to trust destiny for what would happen next as well. |
 Craig is welcomed to the restaurant with a shot of strong rice wine  Sister's Meal rice display at the Kaili Minority Museum  Miao silver headdress, Kali Minority Museum  Miao silver necklace, Kaili Minority Museum  Amusements for children in front of the Kaili Minority Museum  Two kids go for a ride in a whimsical Year of the Sheep vehicle in Kaili square  Our new friend who wanted a photo with us in Kaili Square  Wang Jun presents us with rice wine  Sour fish hot pot  |
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