Tribasia Blog

We arrived in Dali a couple of days ago. 'Touristy' is a good tag for this old town, whose soul is getting lost in the midst of hundreds of Chinese tour groups.
However, grab a bicycle and ride a good 50 kms out of town and you will find yourself discovering the Bai countryside, its villages and markets.

The Bai minority has long being predominant in the region. The women's traditional costume consists of a long-sleeve white shirt worn under a -usually pink- sleeveless vest buttoned on the right side, long white trousers, a colourful apron and a hat. The base of the hat is also white but it is adorned with colourful or/and flowery stripes, glitters and furry or fluffy material on top.

Bai men are very similar in appearance to Naxi men. They sport the same blue-collar type of uniform with a blue beret, or Western-type clothes. However, their features are slightly different.

As for so many other minorities in south-west China, the headgear is the central piece in the costume. When riding on paths alongside fields, it is quite common to see Bai women sporting their hats (the easiest way to identify them, even from far) but they leave the rest of their traditional attire at home, opting instead for Western clothing to work outside.

We also took time to explore a few -mainly- Bai markets. They are spread all around Erhai Lake, in the Dali region. Some are only held once a week, others (the biggest ones) everyday.
Bai women are keen traders and they will try to sell you batiks, shoes, accessories, even vegetables if they can. We always resisted the fatal attraction of spinach and potatoes to ride back to Dali before dark!

Tomorrow, we are off to the wildest part of Yunnan. We will hopefully be able to update the blog at the end of the month with details of our expedition.
Stay tuned on Tribasia!

Labels: Bai, Dali, Markets, Naxi, Tribasia, villages, Yunnan

We trekked a few hours out ot Zhongdian, cum Shangri-La, before we came across traditional Tsang people's villages.
Tsang, also called Tsang-U, are one of three people making up the Tibetans (together with the Khamda and Amdo). Many of them live from the land. When we visited their villages, families were busy stocking up barley and maize on giant wooden drying platforms in preparation for the winter.

Tsang villages can be identified at once not only thanks to the multiple drying platforms popping up in the fields surrounding them but also the structure of their houses.

Tsang houses are often two-floor houses and huge in size. The wooden structure is enclosed by three walls at the back and on sides, with a couple of decorated windows at the back. The front of the house exposes the wooden structure, i.e. it is not covered by a wall, and opens on a courtyard.

Tsang have their own dialect but many of them speak puthongua, i.e. mandarin.

We trekked back through beautiful landscapes. The Autumn colours give a new lease of life to nature in the Yunnanese mountains at this time of year and we gorged on them ;))

Labels: houses, Tibetan, Tsang, Tsang-U, villages, Yunnan

On 12th June, we went riding around Dien Bien Phu as planned. Although many minority villages can be easily spotted from the road, not all are within reach. You often have to ride up dirt roads and zigzag to avoid holes and rocks before getting anywhere close.

Thai villages are easier to visit as they are often based alongside main roads, in the valley.
We rode more than 25 kms away from Dien Bien towards the Lao border. We crossed a Thai settlement and decided to enter by crossing a suspended bridge.
Although our visit was unnannounced, we felt welcome. A group of young Thais invited us to share some sour mango. They were curious of our appearances and laughed at the pictures we made of them.

However, within 15 minutes of our arrival, two policemen, probably residing in the village, asked us to leave. We are still not sure if we were beyond permitted land or too close to the border for their taste but we had to comply.

On the way back, we spotted a Hmong village sitting on a hill top. How did we know it was a Hmong village? Well, because Hmong women were waiting down the dirt track at the foot of the village. Besides, even from a distance, the houses' structure looked very much typical of the Hmong (compacted mud walls, etc.).
We decided to venture into the village. This is not a decision we took lightly as Hmong villages are ALWAYS populated with rabid dogs.

We were lucky enough this time that dogs gave us a break. We were able to chat with a few Hmong women sitting in front of their houses with their young children. The Hmong of this area adorn their black headdress with colourful pompoms (mostly pink or orange), a colourful top whose long sleeves' pattern (stripes) differ from that of the body (flowery motives) and a black silky skirt.

We then headed back to Dien Bien for a well-deserved rest. On 13th June, we have to wake up very early...

Labels: Black Hmong, Dien Bien Phu, North Vietnam, pompoms, Thai Tay, villages