The Mongolians

The most interesting aspect of Tonghai is the survival of a community of Mongolians, in Xingmeng and two adjacent villages at the foot of Peacock Hill, about 15 km northwest of the county seat and several thousand from their original homeland. They are the remnant descendants of the soldiers from the steppes that Kubilai Khan left behind. Most of Yunnan's Mongolians were expelled or killed when the Ming Dynasty chased the last Yuan troops from the province in the late 14th century.

Forced to hide and then, settling out in the open again, to conceal their ethnic identity for several generations, this small but tightly knit community in the end not only continued to exist. Nowadays it's thriving.Yunnan's Mongolians made historic shifts in lifestyle,first to fishing, then to farming, finally to construction. Yet they maintained the social customs and traditions they brought with them from the northern steppes. Most women still wear the traditional jackets, vests and caps, often adorning them with silver clasps, buttons and pendants. They live in sturdy houses with high, thick walls, separated from each other by narrow cobbled lanes. They worship at the Guan Yin Temple but also, in Xingmeng village, have their own splendid hall honouring, and housing large sculptures of, three of the great empire builders of their past-Genghis Khan, Menggu Khan and Kubilai Khan.

Local legends incorporate supernatural elements into the community's historic shifts in lifestyle. When the Ming troops all but eradicated their presence the last seven fugitives sat on the shore of Qilu Lake pondering their future. Suddenly an old man emerged from the waters, standing on a rhinoceros skin. Inviting them on to the skin he pointed to a huge fish supporting a temple. Back on shore the men realised that because the words for "food " and "temple" were similar the old man had been telling them that fish could be food. And so they began drawing on the fish and eels of Qilu Lake for their sustenance.

Settling at Xingmeng at the base of Peacock Hill the last Mongolian men had to marry Yi women and inculcate them into their language and customs. Their community began to multiply and then years later the Goddess Achala arrived at Qilu Lake, subdued a dragon responsible for flooding the plains, and dug a hole at the lakeside. Excess water dropped through this hole and emptied into the South China Sea. Hence the county's name Tonghai-"connecting the sea." Achala then subdued more dragons and removed them to the hills to "dragon pools"-springs-to irrigate the new fields.

Since then the Mongolians have been farmers, though they still trap eels and small fish in the canals that connect Xingmeng with the lake. In recent decades, the men have worked much of the year in the construction business, enjoying a high reputation as carpenters, stonemasons and bricklayers. Consequently they are out of the area most of the time and Xingmeng's residents are mostly women and children. Yet the men are just as immersed in ethnic awareness as the women.

Only in 1979 were Xingmeng's people officially recognised as part of the Mongolian nationality. The male leaders of Xingmeng at once dispatched a delegation to Inner Mongolia to invite Mongolian teachers to come instruct their children in the written and spoken language and the customs of the steppes. And while Yunnan's Mongolians have their own locally evolved customs as well as those they retained over the centuries, the greatest event of their year is the Nadam Festival in late summer. At this time the dances, sporting contests and equestrian shows of the northern steppes are on display in Yunnan's Tonghai County.