[Kimberly R. and Wen C. give this excellent and detailed report from our excursion to towns outside of Dali, and Wen also gives a version in Chinese, so be sure to scroll down for that version, along with lots of great pics! - Adam R.]
Today, we had the pleasure of having Professor Li accompany us on our visit to two Bai villages - Zhoucheng and Xizhou village. He is a professor at Dali University and teaches classes in tourism management. For part of his masters and doctorate programs, he spent a couple years doing field work in both the villages we visited. On our way to the villages, he gave us a brief background of the Bai people. Currently, there are 13,000 Bai people living in the Zhoucheng village. The Bai religion consists of local gods, which means that each village believes in a different god. They also celebrate other Chinese holidays. He also mentioned that Dali is a popular spot for archeologists as they have been trying to find the tombs of the 24 emperors that ruled between the tang and Song Dynasty. They have looked in the nearby lake (Erhai lake) and the Cang Mountain, but to this day their tombs have remained a secret.
Today, we had the pleasure of having Professor Li accompany us on our visit to two Bai villages - Zhoucheng and Xizhou village. He is a professor at Dali University and teaches classes in tourism management. For part of his masters and doctorate programs, he spent a couple years doing field work in both the villages we visited. On our way to the villages, he gave us a brief background of the Bai people. Currently, there are 13,000 Bai people living in the Zhoucheng village. The Bai religion consists of local gods, which means that each village believes in a different god. They also celebrate other Chinese holidays. He also mentioned that Dali is a popular spot for archeologists as they have been trying to find the tombs of the 24 emperors that ruled between the tang and Song Dynasty. They have looked in the nearby lake (Erhai lake) and the Cang Mountain, but to this day their tombs have remained a secret.
We made a quick stop in front of the three pagodas that are famous in Dali to take a group picture and then we ventured to our first village, 周城村 Zhoucheng village. Our first stop in this village was the tie-dye factory. There are over 50 factories producing tie-dye clothing, but this particular village was named by the State Counselor as the Chinese hometown for tie dyed clothing. When we arrived we saw two huge buckets taller than us filled with indigo water, which is the traditional color used to dye clothes, table clothes, and tapestries. We got a little tour of the factory and learned about the process of making tie-dye fabric. First, they come up with a pattern and then they brush the pattern on cotton fabric. Then, they stitch the outline of the different patterns and afterwards, they make a huge knot with the fabric. They dip the whole knotted fabric into indigo water. Once it's soaked for a while, they take it out, spread the knot, and let it dry. Once the knot is spread out, you can see the beautiful patterns.
When we first got to the factory, there was some discussion about whether an indigo plant exists. A local said that we made an error in translation and that there is no such thing as an indigo plant, however, we did a quick Google search (with Wen's phone that somehow was able to access restricted websites) to find out that there is in fact an indigo plant. We confirmed this information with professor Li and he said that villagers plant indigo seeds and after half a year, they cut and grind the plant into ashes. Then, they put the ashes into a big barrel with water and after three months, you have beautiful indigo water! After our mini-tour, all of us were amazed at the beautiful tie-dye fabric, that almost all of us found something to buy -- wall tapestries, tablecloths, coasters, clothing, etc. One of the best memories was witnessing the art of negotiation as Adam skillfully managing to bargain all of our purchases down by one fourth to a third of the price. It was funny to watch each of us pretend to walk away just so that they would offer us an even lower price. In the end, we were all very happy customers!
After the tie-dye factory, we walked around the town and went to a nearby market where we enjoyed some fresh longan (龙眼 longyan - literally "dragon eye"). We had lunch at the "Peach Family House" whose exterior and interior was made of all wood. We walked in and passed a staircase in the shape of a boat, two swings made of wood, and a huge wooden boat to get to our table. For lunch, we ate delicious home style Chinese food.
Now that our stomachs were filled, we were able to walk off some of the food by exploring the next village, 喜洲 Xizhou, which is another smaller Bai village. Both of these villages are unique in that they are able to preserve their traditions and have not been subject to too much modernization, and Adam commented that the town reminded him of what Dali was like 20 years ago. Wen was shocked when she entered the restroom. It consisted of the usual squat toilets, however, this time, there were no doors! We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this town and eating some of the famous local puo su baba, which is baked bread with either a pork option or rose option. Since today was also the Dragon boat festival, we all celebrated in the evening by eating traditional 粽子 zongzi, which are little triangles of rice with either ham or red bean, which are wrapped with bamboo leaves.
- Kimberly Reid and Wen Chang 张琼文
Now that our stomachs were filled, we were able to walk off some of the food by exploring the next village, 喜洲 Xizhou, which is another smaller Bai village. Both of these villages are unique in that they are able to preserve their traditions and have not been subject to too much modernization, and Adam commented that the town reminded him of what Dali was like 20 years ago. Wen was shocked when she entered the restroom. It consisted of the usual squat toilets, however, this time, there were no doors! We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this town and eating some of the famous local puo su baba, which is baked bread with either a pork option or rose option. Since today was also the Dragon boat festival, we all celebrated in the evening by eating traditional 粽子 zongzi, which are little triangles of rice with either ham or red bean, which are wrapped with bamboo leaves.
- Kimberly Reid and Wen Chang 张琼文
印入眼帘的是随风而飘的扎染布条,一条条五彩布条尽然有序的挂在足杆上,极其美丽。一进入村门口,一位八十几岁的老婆婆坐在小凳子上一针一线编织沾染布条,旁边是一桶一桶的染料。 老师们在了解扎染布制作的过程以后,开始进行了一番选购,我们的领队黄老师(Adam R.)也入境随俗地用中文展现了惊人“讨价还价”能力,让大家满载而归,笑容满面。
在大理最常见的建筑是一栋栋白色的建筑,白墙象征一清二白,屋顶上的屋檐代表凤尾,就是所谓的“三坊一照壁,四合五天井”,白色的大墙把阳光照片到房屋的窗子,照亮天井,称“照壁”,三面白墙建筑围成一个封闭的四合院,同时在下房两侧又增加了两个漏角小天井,故成为四合五天井。白族的名族性是多元文化,和谐共容,就拿宗教来说,虽然各个村庄有着崇拜的神明,但是他们对于外来的宗教信仰有着很大的包容。
当我们走在白族的村落里,一边观察着白族村民的服装和听着李教授的解说,一边沿路寻找我们的午后点心。我们很幸运地找到了白族特色小吃-破酥粑粑,这一摊的生意特别好,原来,这里曾经被中央电视台的美食节目“舌尖上的中国”采访过,所以游客都慕名而来。破酥粑粑是一种当地特有的面制点心,我们看着老板从揉面团,把各种不同馅放进面团,到将面团放到铁炉上,最后把放满木炭的炉子放在铁路上烤面团,等到老板把木炭铁炉拿开,看着一个一个金黄色的破酥粑粑,我们已经迫不及待品尝其特有的风味了。我们尝了猪肉及玫瑰花口味的,一口咬下,外酥内软,十分爽口。
由于今天是中国五大节庆之一端午节,一回到饭店以后,黄老师和李佳(Ligaya B.)贴心地为我们准备了美味的粽子和啤酒,我们一边讨论心得,一边吃着粽子。啊!我们又过了一个充实的一天!
- Wen Chang 张琼文
在大理最常见的建筑是一栋栋白色的建筑,白墙象征一清二白,屋顶上的屋檐代表凤尾,就是所谓的“三坊一照壁,四合五天井”,白色的大墙把阳光照片到房屋的窗子,照亮天井,称“照壁”,三面白墙建筑围成一个封闭的四合院,同时在下房两侧又增加了两个漏角小天井,故成为四合五天井。白族的名族性是多元文化,和谐共容,就拿宗教来说,虽然各个村庄有着崇拜的神明,但是他们对于外来的宗教信仰有着很大的包容。
当我们走在白族的村落里,一边观察着白族村民的服装和听着李教授的解说,一边沿路寻找我们的午后点心。我们很幸运地找到了白族特色小吃-破酥粑粑,这一摊的生意特别好,原来,这里曾经被中央电视台的美食节目“舌尖上的中国”采访过,所以游客都慕名而来。破酥粑粑是一种当地特有的面制点心,我们看着老板从揉面团,把各种不同馅放进面团,到将面团放到铁炉上,最后把放满木炭的炉子放在铁路上烤面团,等到老板把木炭铁炉拿开,看着一个一个金黄色的破酥粑粑,我们已经迫不及待品尝其特有的风味了。我们尝了猪肉及玫瑰花口味的,一口咬下,外酥内软,十分爽口。
由于今天是中国五大节庆之一端午节,一回到饭店以后,黄老师和李佳(Ligaya B.)贴心地为我们准备了美味的粽子和啤酒,我们一边讨论心得,一边吃着粽子。啊!我们又过了一个充实的一天!
- Wen Chang 张琼文