Dayan Town

Nowhere is Yunnan's physical and cultural variety so concentrated as it is in the northwest. Each of its main geographical regions is dominated by the lifestyle and culture of a single ethnic minority. The extreme corner of the province lies on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and is inhabited by the Khamba branch of the Tibetans. The basins around Lugu Lake are the homeland of the Mosuo. The high mountains are Yi country and the elevated plains and their surrounding hills are the abode of the Naxi. Other nationalities live in the northwest, like Lisu, Pumi, Bai, Zhuang and Miao. But they have largely adopted the cultural characteristics of their more numerous ethnic neighbours.

For travellers who came from cities in their own countries, which constitute the overwhelming majority, the real gem of the region is Lijiang. More specifically, it is the old Naxi town of Dayan, a well-preserved traditional town with the snow peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain looming to its north. With its cobbled lanes winding along the streams that run through the town, and its western quarter climbing up a small hill, it differs from the classic square grid with right-angle intersections, typified by Dali.

Dayan's irregular layout makes it easier to explore and to observe the life of the people. Naxi women use the streams to wash clothes and rinse vegetables. Farmers carry their produce through the streets and woodcutters haul wagonloads of firewood into the town. In their leisure hours the women play cards at tables under the neighbourhood willow tree. Men bring their pet hawks to the squares and bridges to bask in the sun. And all this sort of activity has characterised Dayan daily life for centuries, even if attenuated by the post-1996 earthquake development and tourist boom.

Dayan means "inkstand," like the kind used in Chinese calligraphy, for that is what it resembled to its founders. The brush complimenting the inkstand is the perfectly triangular peak of Wenbishan, to Dayan's southwest. The city was founded in the wake of Kubilai Khan's campaign against the Kingdom of Dali. The Naxi had helped the Mongol army cross the Jinshajiang and when the an subsequently arrived in Lijiang he setup his camp around what is now the Old Stone Bridge in the northern quarter of town.

The Naxi at that time were living in the northern part of the plain. When their chieftain, the head of the Mu family, was invested with the Khan's authority to rule the area in the service of the Mongols, the Naxi moved their political centre to the vacated camp and built the city of Dayan.

For hundreds of years it remained roughly the same size, with around 50,000 inhabitants. In the 20th century a new city, the administrative capital of Lijiang County, grew up around it. But the only major change to affect the old town was the introduction of electricity. When Yunnan decided to open parts of its province to foreign tourists, Lijiang was a natural first offering. Its old town intact, visitors had a chance to observe something that was becoming ever rarer in the country-traditional urban life.

Three main streets led into the old town. The upper one, Xinghua Street, ran just above one of the streams that flow out of Black Dragon Pool into Dayan. The middle road was lined with ugly concrete buildings nearly all the way to Sifang Square. The third street, Xianfeng Street, wound its way through a quiet residential area, passed by a stream and crossed it at the Old Stone Bridge to turn to Sifang Square. The square was used daily by both Naxi and Bai merchants, the former trading farm produce, the latter hawking copperware, brass utensils and souvenirs. This is the part of town which has undergone the most intensive commercialisation in recent years.

Turning left at the lower end of the square, the road passes small shops, then meets up with the stream that runs beneath the Old Stone Bridge. A large, three  sided building here embraces another market area, this one for the meat, vegetables, fruits and so forth consumedby local residents. Turning right past the market, this branch road, Shazu Lane, up to about a hundred metres further on, used to be the meat and poultry centre for this quarter of town. It was famous for its lady butchers. Past this market was where many of the richer Naxi families lived, including the Mu family, and the houses boasted more decorative embellishments than other neighbourhoods. Beyond this area, near the southernlimit of Dayan, lies Ximatang, Horse-Washing Pond, within a modest but attractive temple compound. The pond got its name from a local legend that the famous Buddhist pilgrim Xuan Zhang stopped here to give his horse a bath.

From the top end of Sifang Square several streets climb up the hill, while the one turning left keeps to a height several metres above the main part of the city. From the streets going uphill paths turn off left to the wooded Lion Hill. From various points on this hill one can see between the trees and gaze on the mass of tiled roofs that makes up Dayan. These viewpoints all face east and make excellent vantage points for the sunrise and the smoke of early morning cooking fires floating over the rooftops.

Few people are out early in Dayan, rendering mornings especially tranquil. No motor traffic is permitted within the old town and the only post-sunrise noises heard are the songs of caged songbirds, the ripple of the streams and footsteps on the cobblestones. And these will mostly belong to women, for it is the women who dominate the economic life of the town.

The older generation still prefers traditional clothing. For the men this is merely Han-style blue jackets and trousers and on special occasions long black gowns. But the women wear a distinctively Naxi item-the seven-starred sheepskin cape-in addition to trousers, apron, side-fastened jacket and simple bonnet or even Mao cap, generally in dark colours like blue, grey and maroon. The cape is half black, half white, with seven embroidered circular patches attached across the middle. It is fastened with a strap that crosses in front and ties in the back, with the ends embroidered in butterfly patterns. The cape symbolises the diligence of the Naxi woman, as busy as the butterfly, who carries the burdens of Heaven on her back, for the seven circular patches represent the stars of the Big Dipper.

Dayan's inhabitants are Naxi, but they are not the only ethnic minority taking part in the life of the town. The Bai are regular visitors. Aside from those from Dali who run the crafts and antiques shops and the souvenir stalls in Sifang Square, the Bai in Lijiang hail from the villages around Jinshan, several km east. Originally immigrants from Heqing County over 200 years ago, their women are recognisable by their red vests and blue head kerchiefs. The men are often employed by Naxi home owners to build their new houses, in particular the wood-carved gates, doors and brackets.

Occasionally ethnic minorities from further on  come to shop in Lijiang, or even just to visit. These include Baiyi from Heqing County, Tibetans from Zhongdian and the Nosu Yi from the mountains to the north. These Yi women are the most colourful of Dayan's visitors, wearing long, three-coloured skirts, bright blouses and very large black hats.

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