The father and daughter galloped across the grasslands
On the 25th, at the Shandong Museum, Shi Xiaoliang and his daughter Shi Zheyiing held a large-scale photo exhibition reporting on their “Visiting 56 Ethnic Families” decade-long revisit fieldwork activity, which drew public attention.
Ten years ago, Shi Xiaoliang from Qingzhou traveled across China and connected with all 56 ethnic groups, making a promise to reunite. Ten years later, he set off on the journey again with his 15-year-old daughter Shi Zheyiing, taking 180 days and traveling 48,000 kilometers to visit all 56 ethnic groups. The daughter also documented every moment of these 180 days from her own perspective.
When some interpreted Shi Zheyiing’s decision to take a break from school and exams to travel tens of thousands of miles as “challenging exam-oriented education,” Shi Xiaoliang stuck to his belief. He said, “Only experience is the most precious wealth you can leave for your daughter.”
A tough journey across the land, a journey of enlightenment
Fourteen years ago, Shi Xiaoliang from Qingzhou, Shandong, rode a motorcycle to visit the “Nine Provinces,” connecting them in a way of ascetic travel, an act that carried a strong sense of ritual and mission in his heart.
“Everyone has a dream when they are young, but not everyone acts on it.” Shi Xiaoliang, now in his forties, reflects on his “bold feat” from fourteen years ago.
In 1989, Shi Xiaoliang was recruited as a reporter for the Qingzhou Daily at the prime of his life. Qingzhou is one of the ancient Nine Provinces. People often talk about the vastness and unity of the Nine Provinces, yet only know about Qingzhou—what were the other “eight provinces” like? Shi Xiaoliang came up with the idea of traveling through all nine.
It took less than half a year to complete this tough journey. “The ancient Nine Provinces stretched from the Great Wall in the north to Mount Heng in the south, from the sea in the east to Jiayuguan in the west, covering 18 current provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, essentially the area of the Central Plains, dominated by Han culture. This journey allowed this frog at the bottom of the well to climb out and see how vast, boundless, and wonderful the outside world is. I truly felt how immense our country’s territory is and how profound Chinese culture is,” said Shi Xiaoliang.
After completing the journey through the Nine Provinces, Shi Xiaoliang organized his thoughts, compiled his travel writings, and eventually published them. Although China has 56 ethnic groups, a cursory visit to each left him feeling something was missing.
Shi Xiaoliang defined his “crusade through the Nine Provinces” as an enlightening journey. He planned his next long expedition, which should not rely solely on physical strength but involve more cultural reflection and attention.
Experience is the most important wealth in life
In 1999, to prepare adequately for the next expedition, Shi Xiaoliang left Qingzhou to study ethnology in Beijing. “Looking at the whole world, no country has as many ethnic groups or as rich and colorful ethnic cultures as China. This is the core value that makes China admired globally. In China, most people have not even seen, let alone heard of, many ethnic groups: such as the Monba, Yugur, Lhoba, Derung, and Maonan...”
Shi Xiaoliang thought to himself, if he could personally experience all of them, his life would not have been lived in vain. He firmly believed that experience is the most important wealth in life.
He got straight to work, drafting plans and seeking sponsorship. He had thought securing sponsorship would be difficult and time-consuming, but thanks to the allure of the richly diverse ethnic cultures, nearly one million yuan in sponsorship was quickly secured.
Subsequently, he began interviewing members of the 56 ethnic groups. It took over three years, but Shi Xiaoliang finally completed the entire journey, selecting one family from each ethnic group. Shi Xiaoliang said that the family is the most basic unit of society. Within a family are people, and people interact with society in various ways. What a family reflects is the life of an ethnic group.
Shi Xiaoliang revealed a personal contemplation he seldom shares with others. “I am not the child of officials or the wealthy. What can I leave for my daughter? Only experience is the true wealth of life.”
When his daughter was five years old, he came up with a bold idea: to take her along for the entire journey. This crazy plan reached the ears of the child’s grandparents, who quickly sent their granddaughter, not yet six years old, to school. Shi Xiaoliang could only take her on trips during her holidays. They visited many places such as Yunnan, Hainan, Guizhou, and Xinjiang, but the idea of taking his daughter to visit all 56 ethnic groups never faded.
Looking back after ten years, savoring a slow-paced life
The first round of interviews took place from August 2001 to April 2004, spanning three years. A decade later, it took just 180 days.
“Did any ethnic group leave the deepest impression on you?” Shi Xiaoliang said that this is a false proposition in itself. For anything or anyone to attract an audience, it needs three elements: distance, unfamiliarity, and mystery. And every ethnic minority interviewed possesses these three elements, making them all fascinating and memorable.
Shi Xiaoliang said that for those who haven’t traveled there, everything along the way is surprising and astonishing. To be called an ethnic group, they must have something unique—dance, clothing, architecture, and so on. Even small things like embroidery vary from group to group. Moreover, there are many horseback-riding ethnic groups. People may be more familiar with the Mongols, but there are many others, and their personalities vary by region—some rugged and straightforward, others delicate and gentle.
For example, among the Mongols, hospitable Mongolians will offer you a hada, invite you to drink wine and milk tea, and for important guests, they might even slaughter a sheep. In Inner Mongolia, an adult sheep generally costs over a thousand yuan, but they don’t consider the cost when hosting guests.
Living in commercialized cities for too long makes you especially appreciative of that slow-paced life. Eating meat heartily and drinking wine freely isn’t just something you see on TV—it’s right there in front of you. The wine is all home-brewed by locals. Shi Xiaoliang said he tried a type of liquor called “bing.” “The process for making bing is simple: steam high-quality sticky rice, add yeast, let it get slightly thick, then poke a hole in a bamboo tube and let the liquid slowly seep out—that’s bing.”
Thirty pounds of rice yields fifteen pounds of bing. He drank three or four pounds in a row, and it felt like water, but he got dizzy. Shi Xiaoliang said intoxicatedly, “This liquor doesn’t give you a hangover or hurt your stomach—it’s like sweet poison. I’ve gotten drunk before too, but after sobering up, I’d have no memory—but with this one, the memory stays.”
People are simple, yet not that simple
“All ethnic minorities are much more sincere than we imagine. When we go there, they welcome us with the greatest enthusiasm and never mention money. Sometimes we want to pay, but they won’t even let us bring it up. It’s hard to give them the money because they refuse. ”
Shi Xiaoliang said that the common people are kind, but there are still differences between people. “I’m usually polite to others, but I can quickly bond with them. There’s a trick: approach with respect and adapt to local customs. For example, during the toasting ceremony, after going around twenty or thirty people, when it’s your turn, the rim of the bowl is already covered with dirty lip marks. If you hesitate even a little, looking for a clean spot to drink from, the other person will feel ‘he thinks we’re dirty,’ and from then on, they’ll mentally reject you. I thought to myself, these people eat and drink like this every day and are fine, so I ate and drank without worry. At most, I’d just take some anti-diarrhea medicine when I got back, but after truly adapting to the local customs, I never had diarrhea.”
From this experience, Shi Xiaoliang drew a conclusion: no matter where you go or how great the cultural differences may be, as long as you treat others with sincerity, they will surely treat you sincerely in return. “People are really that simple—don’t overthink it,” Shi Xiaoliang said. When visiting ethnic minority villages, locals would offer the best they had to entertain guests, leaving wallets and cameras lying around without anyone touching them. On the contrary, people in cities aren’t so “pure” and tend to have all kinds of ulterior motives.