Pre-note: Please be aware that this is an article that has not been grammar-checked. As you know, there is no concept of past tense deformation of verbs in Mandarin, the language of China, so it is possible that there are a lot of verb deformation errors in this article. Thank you for reading.

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Happy new year! I just finished my trip at the last week. I visited Yunnan province with my mother and 3 neighbors during 13-17 Feb.

First the plane landed in Kunming 昆明 city, but soon we drived to Yuanmou 元谋. You may have already heard, if you read something about the history of human development in China, that the Yuanmou people (actually, the ancient hominid species) Homo erectus yuanmouensis are considered to be the opening chapter of Chinese human history being written on the front page of Chinese history textbooks. That’s why my mother chose this place to start our journey. Another interesting fact is that the word Yuanmou, from the Dai 傣族 language, means steed (horse).

In Yuanmou we visit Wumao soil “forest” (earth forest, Touraine?) on 13 Feb. it was not real trees forest, but all stones. here i took some photos https://slashine.onl/@jiangshanghan/111921456636629555

I chose this place because of a Chinese-Burmese collaborative TV series I watched called Legend of Dance 舞乐传奇. It was an adventurous and suspenseful drama about a prince who named Shwenadaw leaves his country Kingdom of Pyu 骠国 and travels to Tang 唐 for peace, offering beautiful songs and dances from his own country to the Tang emperor Li Shi 李适 (also known as Tang-De-zong 唐德宗, he was the 10th emperor of Tang dynasty, lived during A.D. 742-805) We can still read about this part of history now, as the event was recorded in a poem Music of the Pyu 骠国乐 by a poet named Bai Juyi 白居易 (realist poet, lived during A.D. 772-846, he wrote many poems reflecting the plight of the people) of Tang.

I also love the songs in this episode, for example, the title song is sung by a famous female singer Han Hong 韩红, and also, a few of the actors are dancers themselves, so they perform a lot of beautiful dance movements, such as the peacock dance. (here is a video of the title track: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1n34y1T7c8) There’s even a little theater at this attraction, Visitors can see some of the films shot on location here in this little theater.

On the second day 14 Feb. we went to visit the Yuanmou People’s Museum. 元谋人博物馆 It’s more of a photo display than a museum because there are few physical exhibits. in the afternoon, we drived to Dali city 大理, one of the reasons it’s known: marble, also known as Dali stones 大理石, originally refers to the production of Dali, Yunnan Province, white with black patterned limestone, section can form a natural ink landscape painting, often selected in ancient times with a moulded pattern of marble used to make the painting screen or mosaic. Later, the name “marble” gradually developed into a name for all kinds of coloured and patterned limestone, used for building decoration materials.

But the reason I chose to visit Dali was because of another famous Chinese TV series: Returning Pearl. 还珠格格. It’s a very famous TV series in China, my grandpa like it very much. (But this is a half-true story invented by a modern Chinese female novelist Qiong-yao 琼瑶)

This TV series tells the story of Zi-wei Xia 夏紫薇 a young girl who has lost her mother Yu-he Xia 夏雨荷 and travelled to Beijing with her maid Jin-suo 金锁 to try to get the Emperor Qian-long 乾隆 of the Qing Dynasty 清朝 to recognise her as a princess in exile with some tokens. Due to Zi-wei’s frail health, the task is given to another young girl, Xiao-yan-zi (小燕子 the name means “little swallow” in Chinese mandarin. It wasn’t an official name, because she was an orphan, so she only had a nickname) a new friend of Zi-wei’s that she met in Beijing, to help carry out. However, Xiao-Yan-Zi is mistaken by the emperor as a princess. Later on, more adventures happen to these friends together in order to get Zi-wei back to the palace. 

In the second half of the story, irreconcilable problems arise in Xiao-yan-zi’s life: her marriage to the fifth prince Yong-qi 永琪 is attacked from all sides, for example, the prince is asked to take a concubine. Their love thus gradually becomes less pure. At the same time, court battles and strict rules have turned the palace into a prison cell, no longer suitable for her. xiao-yan-zi grew up in civilians, so she loved the freedom rather than the elegant but staid palace life. she leaves the palace and travels to Dali. She chose this place because it was that had been mentioned by friends who said it had a beautiful view (which was true! The whole city is just below the Cang-shan mountain 苍山 and there is a large lake Er-hai 洱海 nearby.)

As we walked at the streets of Dali, my neighbour Helen bought some “milk fans” 乳扇 and gave one to me. It’s a local snack, people bake animal milks – unrolling on thin bamboo sticks and heating them up. It can be coated with your favourite sauce, for example, rose sauce or chocolate.

On 15 Feb. I took part in a white tie-dye 扎染 activity at Dali City museum 大理市博物馆, making a square scarf with a blue and white pattern. This special type of dyeing creates a white pattern on the surface of the fabric that has been dyed blue by slate. (here is a video which introduce 扎染 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1b3411R7Fu/ ) I actually learnt how to play this way once in primary school art class, but this time the items made were much larger. This craft is still mandatory in local schools, so every student can learn and spread. – The only way to make it last forever is keep use it!

We had lunch in Weishan 巍山. Perhaps in the eyes of those who are used to the world, Weishan screen has no attraction? But this county was the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom (南诏 8th and 9th century kingdom in Yunnan, at times allied with Tang against Tibetan Tubo 西藏吐蕃 pressure) actually, in the old days, when transport was difficult, this was a very prosperous area. 

In photo you can see some tofu block with white mould growth. It’s a local speciality 霉豆腐 the tofu is allowed to grow mould and then cooked for consumption. They actually give off a mysterious odour, which may be a little smelly, but the texture is soft.

If you’ve also noticed that there seems to be something different on the roof, congratulations on discovering yet another local speciality: tiled cats 瓦猫. This is a fictional mascot inspired by the cats that guard the granaries and catch mice for the local villagers. The social status of the Tile Cat in Yunnan is comparable to that of the Roof Beasts 脊兽 in Beijing.

We returned to Kunming city on the afternoon of 16 Feb. There were several traffic jams on the highway, so we cancelled our plans to go to a nearby hot spring hotel. Part of the reason why this will happen is that this is the time of the Lunar New Year holidays. According to the transport department’s forecast, 9 billion people could be travelling out or back to their hometowns for the New Year. We left Dali at noon, but didn’t arrive in Kunming until 8 p.m.

In the morning of 16 February, we went to visit the Yunnan Provincial Museum. We had to book online in advance or risk not being able to enter as there were so many tourists. My favourite exhibit was a button ornament that showed people holding hands and dancing. Its description reads, “This dance movement is still seen today in local ethnic gatherings.” The fact that “we are still like this today” makes me feel some truly connected. (You can view this exhibit through the official website of this museum: https://www.ynmuseum.org/detail/1264.html )

After finishing my visit to the museum, I had dinner with one of my online friends Zi-xu in the nearby ancient town of Guandu 官渡. We walked around the ancient town for about an hour. It was very busy with lots of people dancing and singing in the square. Due to the festivities, many shops also set up games where people can win prizes by playing games. And colorful fireworks, of course.