On July 21st, the scientific expedition team had the easiest day of their trip to Yunnan, coinciding with the local major festival, the Gate Closing Festival. The interview turned into a joyful visit to a rural farmhouse, and in the evening, the whole team attended a local dance party in Mangjing Village.
During festivals, the villagers gather together to cook and chat. The women, dressed in traditional Blang ethnic clothing, sit on small stools inside the house wrapping vegetables; the men cook outside and take breaks to sip some liquor; the children run around, though it’s unclear what exactly has them so happy.
Originally, the scientific expedition team’s task in the morning was to interview the villagers and investigate the local tea culture. Unfortunately, after being warmly invited by the locals, we ended up squatting on the ground wrapping vegetables with them. It’s quite similar to how we wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), except that we use reed leaves while they use banana leaves—the outer layer uses smaller banana leaves, and the inner layer uses banana leaves torn into rectangles to hold and scoop in a large spoonful of filling. It’s said that there are many types of fillings for stuffed vegetables, and it’s hard to gather them all, so they only eat this once a year. It seems we’ve come at just the right time.
In the evening, the scientific expedition team was invited to attend a local dance party. The party started at eight o’clock, and we first learned to play the drums and gongs with the uncles. The Blang ethnic drums are hourglass-shaped with wooden drumheads, and when struck, they produce a sound full of the spirit of trees and the voice of life; the gongs also sound very nice—soft and mellow, without the harshness and arrogance of northern drums. At exactly nine o’clock, the scientific expedition team lined up and followed the Blang women as they danced in circles, performing tea-picking dances and weaving dances—dances derived from daily life that were all quite easy to learn. The village women were dressed in bright, colorful clothes, with headscarves tied around their heads or floral ornaments worn; the Blang people’s use of color is almost extravagant, though their style is rather rough, without much attention to coordination—a bright yellow flower on a sky-blue silk base, or a hot pink skirt with green trim. By eleven o’clock, the dance party ended, and the whole team enjoyed a local specialty: chicken mixed rice.
The beautiful mountain village scenery and the idyllic pastoral life—this is Mangjing Village, this is the life of the Blang people.