Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village maple stilted houses are lined up along the mountain
stretches into pieces again
layer upon layer
In the early morning, the smoke from the Miao family’s cooking and the smog of the Xijiang River
As far as the eye can see, like in a painting


In fact, I have been to Guizhou many times, but this is the first time that this thousand-household Miao village has preserved the complete culture of the "primitive ecology" of the Miao people. It takes about 3 hours to drive from Guiyang Longdongbao Airport. If you use public transportation, you have to take the high-speed rail from Guiyang to Kaili High-speed Railway Station, and then take a taxi or transfer to a special bus for 45 minutes. Public transportation is still suitable for tourists with large and small luggage. A little inconvenient.





The Miao Village, which lives on the mountain, has a patchwork of high and low. We deliberately chose a homestay built on the mountain with a good view.

Open the window at dusk, and you will see the lights of thousands of Miao villages in front of you, bright and warm.



The lights hang on the slanted eaves, and the light rain and light dew lean against the tall buildings alone,

Three cups and two cups will never be forgotten, but wait for the night to return

Going down the stairs from the B&B, these few words in front of the small building in the middle of the mountain are especially appropriate for the occasion

No. 5 Fengyu Bridge looks more peaceful and alienated in the night
On the first night when I first arrived, I walked alone among the lights of Miao Village, and I was already moved by the unique beauty and sleepless lights here.


In fact, this time I made a special trip to Leishan, and another unique experience is "passing the seedling year".
For the Miao people in Leishan County, November definitely has a different meaning. Just like the Spring Festival in our hearts, the Miao Nian is the most solemn and lively traditional festival for the Miao people. The time for Miao Nian to be celebrated varies from region to region. This year Leishan Miao Nian starts on November 18 (the first day of October in the lunar calendar), and the 18th is the New Year’s Eve of Miao Nian. Next, I experienced the whole experience of the Miao Nian New Year's Eve on the 18th and the New Year's Day the next day, which is very interesting.


Langde Miao Village, Miao New Year's Eve, a small test




On the morning of November 18, we rushed from Xijiang to Langde Miao Village with hundreds of families. Langde Miao village is divided into upper village and lower village. If you look around, the Miao village in Langde is also scattered and pleasant, surrounded by mountains, but the scale is not as large as Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village. Just as he was fascinated, two chatting and laughing Miao girls walked towards him. They should all come to participate in today's activities on Miao Nian's New Year's Eve.







The steps to the gate of Langde Shangzhai were already blocked by the flow of people. All the Miao girls held wine glasses, and when they saw the guests, they toasted enthusiastically and sang cheerful songs. A large number of tourists who come to feel the atmosphere of Miao Nian are not polite, and they usually drink up the toast.








This lively and enthusiastic scene may be what people often call "drinking songs on the road"! The women of the Miao family toasted, and the men naturally couldn't be idle. They were responsible for standing aside and blowing bamboo pipes to add to the fun. It is said that this "road-blocking wine" ranges from three to as many as twelve, but I guess there will be a lot less on New Year's Eve, because It is really the rhythm of a sea of ​​people.






A few of our little friends don’t really like to join in the fun, so we walked a section of the stone road in the village alone instead of following the crowd. The noisy crowd was attracted by the activities on Miao Nian’s New Year’s Eve, so there were not many people in the area outside the activities. Yellow corn and red peppers are hung outside the house on stilts, heralding another bumper harvest this year. Although the gait of the old man of the Miao family is a bit staggering, he is also comfortable walking on the stone road that he is accustomed to all the year round. He greets us from time to time and lets our cameras click; there is also a young man carrying a pig leg passing by, in a hurry, It should be to catch the next scene.








Not far away, Tongguping in Shangzhai was blocked three floors in and three floors away by onlookers. They were all watching the Miao girls dancing. We can only feel the music of the lively young people’s bamboo lute dance on the periphery of the crowd, and we can also feel the same They merged into the joy of Miao Nian together. When I left Langde, I took a closer look at the award-winning works of the "Impression of Guizhou" photography exhibition, from which I once again experienced the unique ethnic charm of the Miao family.


Leishan County, a large-scale parade to celebrate the Year of Miao


It was almost afternoon when we returned to Leishan County from Langde Miao Village. I saw people pouring into the small county square from all directions, and was told that the "2018 Guizhou Leishan Miao Nian Miao Intangible Cultural Heritage Parade" was about to start. We also rushed into the lively crowd and began to look forward to it. In that parade, I saw the "beauty god" of the Miao nationality --- Yang Asha!





At 1:00 p.m. that day, the police car cleared the way and the parade officially started. 20 young men dressed in homespun black casual clothes were divided into 5 groups, and each group carried the theme signs such as "2018 Guizhou Leishan Miao Year" and "Miaojiang Holy Land, Fumei Leishan" as the parade etiquette team.






There are 18 phalanxes in the parade, 13 intangible cultural heritage phalanxes, and 5 phalanxes for decisive victory in poverty alleviation. There are 18 styles in 18 squares: thirteen intangible cultural heritage parade squares, 864 old, middle-aged and young Miao men and women, dressed in different gorgeous national costumes, displaying 13 national, 9 provincial and 22 state-level intangible cultural heritage.








The sons and daughters of the Miao family all wear silver crowns, silver combs in their hair buns, silver earrings on their ears, silver collars on their necks, and silver waist chains tied around their waists. Dressing up, showing the exquisite clothing culture of the Miao family.




Leishan is a traditional poverty-stricken county in our country, so the "Decisive Victory in Poverty Alleviation Achievement Team" in this parade is also particularly eye-catching. In the poverty alleviation team, there are 176 middle-aged and young Miao men and women, dressed in Miao casual clothes, carrying 45 picks of grains, 45 picks of vegetables, 36 picks of fruits, 32 picks of native products, 6 picks of rice field fish, and 4 sheep , 4 yellow cattle, 4 buffaloes and other most distinctive agricultural products, Chinese herbal medicines, and the achievements of poverty alleviation.








Among all the square teams, the most eye-catching one is undoubtedly the Miaojia Meishen square team "Yang Asha". The girls in this formation are all beautiful and charming, especially the leader "Yang Asha", who is generous, elegant and always smiling. She should be the most beautiful Miao girl I have ever seen.


"Yang Asha" is the goddess of beauty of the Miao nationality. It is a poignant and elegant love story about a passionate Miao girl. "Yang Asha" is called the Guizhou version of "Liu Sanjie" and the Miao version of "A Shi". Ma".


The mighty parade marched slowly along the streets and squares of the county town. There were movements and stillness, dancing and singing.





As the parade team entered the arena one after another, a wonderful intangible cultural heritage Miao Lusheng united dance performance kicked off in the wooden drum square of the county town, and the whole square became a sea of ​​songs and a world of dance.



Miao Nian's long-table banquet, long-term good fortune




A long table banquet for thousands of people was set up on Leishan Square, and Miao guests came in one after another. To say that the table is really long, it probably took more than 20 minutes from the beginning to the end of the small fish. Because of the large number of people, each area has a number or partition. The front is the Miao compatriot area, which is subdivided according to different villages, and the back is the tourist area; as long as there are vacant seats, people you know or don’t know can sit together, and drinking is like a friend.





The steaming Miao fish in sour soup is the protagonist at the long table banquet. Miao sausages, bacon, tofu, side dishes, etc. can all be boiled in the pot, and the taste is quite strong Miao characteristics. The most interesting thing is the song that can't be sung, the "mountain and flowing water" that can't be drunk. Four or five Miao girls hold rice wine bowls and walk to the guests, singing and pouring rice wine slowly from high to low until they finish drinking. You who can't drink, be careful, don't get drunk by this rice wine!







The long table banquet is the highest form and grand etiquette of Miao banquets, with a history of thousands of years. It is usually used for marrying daughters, full moon wine, New Year and village social feasts. On the left is the host seat and on the right is the guest seat. The host and the guest faced each other, toasted and persuaded to drink and sang to the wine.



Whether it is the Miao family or a tourist like me, everyone naturally blends into the laughter of Miao Nian's long table feast, eating, drinking and singing, forgetting about himself and the quiet passage of time.


Pig killing banquet, this is the New Year's atmosphere on Miao Lunar New Year's Day



The next day was the first day of the Miao Year, and the sound of howling pigs broke the morning silence of the Diaojiaolou. It must be that the Miao family started preparing for the pig-killing banquet! I couldn't bear to witness such a bloody scene, but it seems that in Miao Village, it's Miao Nian again, and all this is as normal as birdsong in the morning.





My companions and I rushed to another stilted building and saw women painting eggs with red, some picking vegetables, and the preparations for the pig-killing feast were proceeding in an orderly manner. Some things will eventually become common under the baptism of the years. Every ethnic group seems to celebrate the New Year or worship ancestors in a special way, and the Miao people use the method of killing pigs.





In the fields between the mountains, the seedlings are still growing greenly. The two pigs had been driven out of the pigsty by the Miao family. Hearing their howls, it was a bit like mourning for the end of their lives, or praying. . . I'm a little too emotional, I shouldn't think too much at that time!






Fortunately, Miao villages usually come to slaughter pigs at the beginning of the Miao Year to celebrate the good weather of the year. The big guy who weighed several hundred kilograms was basically killed with a single knife. After being bloodletted, the old man of the Miao family who presides over the pig-killing ceremony will light incense and respectfully send blessings and safumi to the people present in the way and language handed down by the ancestors of the Miao people.



After the ceremony is over, scald it with boiling water, shave its hair, open its intestines and peel its belly. After an hour or two, this big guy will be ready to go to the pot. Pork can be used to cook hot pot and make bacon. The steaming is the lively atmosphere of reunion in the stilted buildings of Miao Village.



end




The seedling year of 2018 has become my deepest traditional festival memory when I grow up!