My husband and I moved to Shanghai a couple of years ago for work, and have made an effort to explore China as much as possible. One of my absolute favorites is Guizhou province, in the southwest of China. I am particularly interested in China's ethnic minority groups -- the traditional costumes and festivals are just fantastic.

We flew from Shanghai to Guizhou on a Friday in early September. We drove out to Jichang Village which was ~ 1 hour outside of the city of Guiyang. Our guide describes this village as "Old Han" -- the Han people themselves aren't a minority (over 90% of China's population describe themselves as Han) but this village still wears the traditional Han-style dress.






The town has a "ground opera" performance group -- "ground" referring to the fact that it's not performed on stage. Everyone sits around in a circle and the men perform.



I get the feeling everyone has seen this story before!




After the opera (and requisite purchase of a souvenir opera mask, complete with real human hair for the beard) we drove back to Guiyang to overnight. The next morning we got up and drove out towards Xiaba village to hike and then stopped to eat lunch in Xiaba itself. It was market day so everyone was out to do their shopping, socializing, and in some cases, engage in some theraputic blood-letting. We were told it was helpful for getting rid of the "bad blood". Ooof.



We hiked on through the Damochang Valley, passing numerous traditional Miao (an ethnic minority) houses.



The people in the area supplement their farming income by making ancestor paper. I'm a little vague on the details but it involves grinding bamboo into pulp, then mixing with water and some hemp fiber to make a slurry. It's spread onto a screen, the excess water is pressed out, then hung to dry. They cut it into pieces and then sell it to people who burn it to honor their ancestors.





My husband giving it a try, with dismal results:




The next morning we hiked for a bit and then drove to Kaili where we were lucky enough to drive past an enormous performance featuring different minorities.
I their costumes.

Miao:


Another sub-group of Miao:



Basha:



A different sub-group of Miao:




Geija:



Overnight in Kaili and then on to Xijiang and Paika village....


Xijiang is the largest Miao village in the area. It was harvest time so everyone was hanging corn from the eaves to dry. This is a typical house in the village.



Walking throught the village, we met these two fellas who I refer to as "Lunch" and "Dinner" as dogs are just another protein source for people in this area. I'm told it's very delicious but I just can't get used to the idea -- just my own issues with cultural relativism.....




We drove on towards Paika village. It was REALLY hot that day so all the kids and water buffalo were having a swim in the river. Upon arrival in Paika, we joined the kids also in the river for swim/bath.




An example of the water wheels used to irrigate the rice fields in Paika:





We stayed over night with a family in Paika. It was my birthday so we had many toasts with home made rice wine. Our guide was concerned as the only way to access the outhouse was to walk along the top of a rice paddy. He was concerned that we'd get so likkered up we would fall into the rice paddy on the way to the loo. Our host's suggestion was to just use the canal behind the house if necessary overnight. Speaking of outhouses, I was intrigued by the basket of STICKS left for use, in lieu of toilet paper. We were told that toilet paper is expensive so they use the sticks. My husband did note that our host had money for beer and cigarettes -- it all comes down to priorities!

We rounded out a trip with a visit to Shidong to see how the Miao silver ornaments are made and a visit in Tanglong to meet a women incredibly skilled in traditional embroidery skills:

Shidong:


Tanglong:



We drove back through Kaili where we had our final lunch together featuring a local delicacy of ground wasp larvae:




This is my husband enjoying a particularly plump one:



Thanks for reading to the end!

-- Mary Sue

Lovely sidelighting on #1, esp with the dark background. The others are great too, you're really privileged to see and record these pics. Thanks for sharing!

wow !!

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like a fascinating trip in a wonderful part of China.

I love this close up of the embroidered sleeve.

Great pics, and thanks for taking us all with you.

Great shots. Love the color and the pop.
Too bad about the dogs, but yeah, dogs are protein. The larvae look interesting as well.
I think the shot with the needlelss syringes is just another form of cupping, where a bulb is heated and then placed on the skin, as the air cools it produces suction and give giant hickies. Traditional medicine in China and other places, I think.

Thanks for looking!

Originally Posted by Tee Why I think the shot with the needlelss syringes is just another form of cupping, where a bulb is heated and then placed on the skin, as the air cools it produces suction and give giant hickies. Traditional medicine in China and other places, I think.

Instead of needles, there is a piece of broken glass in the base of the syringe, so they do actually draw blood. Out of the shot is a basin with blood in it. The practice is really horrifying given the huge problem with AIDS.

msf

mary sue,

really enjoyed your post. thanks!

Thank you for bringing such a change of culture to all of us! It's not every day that people like me get to see the nuances of a place as diverse and traditional as China.

Great series Mary Sue thankyou for showing us. I was on a deployment in guizhou in '84. The food was a pretty huge learning curve but the people were fantastic. I still have a lot of local crafts from there laying about the house. The local alcohol in the white clay bottles was a very aquired taste.

I had a brand new canon T50 back then (and an old AE-1) & i must say your colour & compositions leave my photos of the place for dead.

Gosh, the first two portraits have wonderful light and really tell a story. Very nice!

They are all appreciated -- I just got my first SLR about 9 months ago and have been lurking here for a while, trying to learn as much as possible.

Next week I am dragging my long-suffering husband back to Guizhou as there is a festival I want to photograph. Hopefully I'll get some good shots to post!

-- Mary Sue

Great trip and documentation. Thanks for taking us along