Travel Notes | Mosuo People - Exploration (2)

"I want to go to a distant place with you, grazing by the stream, listening to the rain in front of the window..." This is a very romantic poem. Since the saying "Life is not just about the immediate things, but also about poetry and distant places" has spread among the young people, countless people with full of feelings in their hearts have embarked on various travels.

We thought we were also this kind of people, so on September 10th we traveled across mountains and rivers to explore another unfamiliar area - Lugu Lake!

The 286 kilometers from Xichang to Lugu Lake is the length of the distance between the two places. It is the seven-hour winding bumps. It is the confusion caused by taking a motion sickness pill. It is the magnetic singing voice of the tour guide A Niu. It is the playfulness of the sisters in the car. , it is the thrill of stones occasionally rolling down from the mountains outside the car window, it is the Yalong River that is golden in color with a large amount of sediment, it is the mountains that stretch like splashed ink, it is the continuous hydropower stations, it is everything that can be seen with just one turn. The mountain col with blooming Kelsang flowers is another cliff that can only be seen after turning a corner...

In order to ensure driving safety, all tourist buses stop and take a rest every one and a half hours. At each rest point, nearby mountain people will set up stalls to sell some mountain products.

This is the stall of an old couple who are nearly eighty years old. The beautiful grandma has a kind smile on her face. Even though wrinkles have been deeply imprinted on her face and hands, she still can't hide her beautiful face. Wearing Yi costume, she would take corn from the steaming pot and squat down to add firewood to the fire pit. Grandpa was squatting aside and cracking walnuts. When he saw us walking over, he greeted us warmly, reached out and grabbed some walnut meat for us to eat. Since the old man is so enthusiastic, how can we, a group of sparrow-like women, not join in the fun? So, we cheered and surrounded the stall.

Some were stuffing firewood into the fire pit, some were roasting corn by the fire, some were talking to grandma, and even more were surrounding grandpa and cracking walnuts! Grandpa saw that everyone was knocking walnuts but not eating them, so he smiled and said: "Eat, don't just knock but not eat. Eat while knocking! It's delicious, these are wild walnuts!" "Okay, okay, thank you!" Come, give me some to try." The sparrow-like women chattered, cracked and ate walnuts. Before leaving, I made an agreement with the old man that I would buy some to take back with me on my return trip, and the old man agreed one by one.

A Niu said that there are many ethnic minorities in Daliang Mountain who have never left the mountains in their lives, are illiterate, and live in poverty. The government often carries out some poverty alleviation work, sending money and food. Now it implements targeted poverty alleviation, and provides some poverty alleviation according to the situation of each family. Policy benefits and assistance. The tourist route from Xichang to Lugu Lake has only been developed for about five years. It is hoped that tourism can boost the local economy and allow people in the mountains to live a good life.

A Niu didn't talk much and only explained some folk customs to us when necessary. He himself is from the Yi ethnic group in Xichang. He has been working as a tour guide for more than ten years and knows the Daliang Mountains well. From his conversation, we can feel his love for Daliang Mountain and his gratitude to the government.

At four o'clock in the afternoon we finally arrived at the Lugu Lake Scenic Area.

The first stop after passing through the gate of the scenic spot was the very famous "Walking Wedding Bridge". The Walking Wedding Bridge is the only wooden bridge on Lugu Lake that connects the villages on both sides of the lake. It extends 300 meters from the reeds in Caohai. It turns out that part of the wood of the nearly century-old old bridge has rotted or been damaged and is scattered in the sea of ​​grass. The current bridge is next to the old bridge and was rebuilt later. The so-called "Sea of ​​Grass" is due to the long-term accumulation of sediment under the bridge, which has caused the water depth to become shallow and form a swamp with dense reeds. From a distance, it looks like a sea of ​​grass, so it is called "Sea of ​​Grass" by the locals. The Walking Marriage Bridge is a place where Mosuo men and women meet. The Mosuo people on the shores of Lugu Lake practice the "walking marriage" custom of "men do not marry and women do not marry". It is said that walking on a wedding bridge can only go halfway, not to the end, otherwise the relationship will mean that it will come to an end. Therefore, there are many young couples hugging each other and taking photos in the middle of the bridge, hoping that their love will remain romantic and long-lasting.

After staying for an hour we went to eat. The youngest beauty in the group, "Little Piggy", had her birthday today. The travel agency prepared a big birthday cake and the whole group sang happy birthday to her. The lively atmosphere infected the guests at the next table and they sang along with us and sang it loudly. Congratulations and thank them!

"Yunli Villa" is a very poetic B&B. We will stay here for two nights. The dahlias in the yard are blooming in an exaggerated way. I have never seen such beautiful and big dahlias. They are as red as fire and as pink as clouds. Even the fuchsia in the corner is in bloom. I was surprised that the fuchsia that I raised at home was so weak and weak. It finally bloomed, and it was only a small one. There is no harm without comparison! My fragile little heart!

Have you heard of "Azhu Hey"? I had never heard it before today. When I first heard this song, I was shocked. It has such an ethereal voice and such a melodious tune. This is a song I heard while watching a show at night.

On the way to watch the show, Aniu introduced to us the little secret of Mosuo men and women conveying their emotions: when dancing, men and women hook their index fingers with each other. If both parties think that the other party is not bad, they will change it to four fingers to hook four fingers. If they look right at each other, A-Mei will scratch the elder brother's hand three times. If the elder brother does the same, it means that they are consensual. After a little more contact, A-Mei will ask for a date with him. Because the Mosuo people are a matriarchal society, girls take the initiative.

Tonight's entire program is about the love story of the Mosuo people: when the little sister grows up, her mother puts on a pleated skirt for her, and then sends her to live in a flower house in a flower house. A-mei met a young man, first they hooked up with each other, and then held hands. Suddenly A-mei scratched her brother's palm three times, and his brother also scratched A-mei's palm three times, and they fell in love. At night, my brother climbed up the window and entered my sister's greenhouse. In the morning, as soon as the rooster crowed, my brother climbed out of the window. Before leaving, my sister threw a ribbon to my brother as a token of love, and my brother also left the token behind. Under my sister's pillow. From then on, they pretended not to know each other during the day and secretly dated at night. Until the child was born, the elder brother would invite his family to go to the younger sister's house to recognize the child.

This is the "walking marriage" of the Mosuo people!

After the performance, a bonfire was lit in the middle of the venue, and everyone danced around the bonfire. The scene was extremely jubilant!

On the way back in the car, the sisters teased A Niu: "Why didn't you go in? I wanted to scratch your palms, but I couldn't find you." "Yeah, why are you hiding outside, are you afraid of scratching your palms?" Niu said a little shyly: "I've been there before, but all my members came to scratch my palms, and they were scratched. I didn't dare to go, I didn't dare to go!" "Hahaha..." A Niu's voice As soon as we landed, there was a burst of happy laughter in the carriage!

We know the word "walking marriage" from the book "Out of the Country of Women" by Yang Erche Namu, a Mosuo man. Before this, almost no one knew that there was such a strange nation in southwest China that maintained matriarchal customs.

So, is their walking marriage as casual as we imagined? How were their children born? Who has the final say in the Mosuo family? How does the daily life of the Mosuo people proceed?

Don't worry, I'll tell you tomorrow!