Tonghai

Passing Xingyun Lake and Jiangchuan city, the road south crosses low hills and then winds into the plain around Qilu Lake.Tonghai sits a couple kilometres beyond, backed by wooded hills. It is one of the nicest of the cities in central Yunnan, for south of the main through road lies the original urban core, where the streets are lined with shade trees and traditional style buildings still dominate the architecture. And fine old wood and tile buildings, originally religious but now serving secular purposes, occupy the compound of Yuanming Temple, at the base of the hill.

The hill behind Tonghai, rising about 200 metres higher than the town, is called Xiushan-Beautiful Mountain. It has long been venerated by Buddhists, who constructed five temples on its wooded slopes, the oldest dating back to the Tang Dynasty. Poets and scholars have particularly gravitated here over the centuries. Inscribed stone tablets and over 200 couplets have been left at the temples, some perhaps composed at one of the twenty pavilions and arbours placed around the hill. Ancient trees-a Song cypress, a Yuan cedar and a Ming magnolia-are also part of the furnishings in the compounds, while the wood carving and the rows of painted sculptures of the deities are even more eye-catching.

Tonghai's residents are mostly Han, but the Hui also have a significant presence, both in the town and in several of the county's villages. The largest Hui settlement is Najiaying, on the west side of Qilu Lake, 13 km from Tonghai. Separated from the lake by its farms, lying along the east side of the road, flanked by hills on its west, Najiaying is a strongly Hui to. The new, green-domed, white mosque in the Arabian style dominates the northern part of the to, but a much older mosque in the Chinese style is in the southern quarter. A two-tiered tower rises over the compound's entrance and an Islamic Studies Centre sits beside the mosque.

Most of the houses are the same brick and tile types seen in Han villages nearby. But often the residents mount a Koranic inscription over the front door. Islamic motifs also mark the new homes of the newly rich, mainly in the northern quarter, such as plaques on the facade with Arabic inscriptions, Arabian-style cupolas on the upper balconies, etc. The Hui bury their dead. Some tombs are up on the hill slopes, but other tombstones and sarcophagi stand in the forest between the settled area and the highway. The Hui don't have an ethnic costume per se, but many women keep their hair covered. Besides farming and occasional fishing, Hui men are heavily involved in the transportation business. Hui-owned or Hui-driven vehicles usually sport a decal in the windshield of a crescent moon and a Koranic quote in Arabic script.

South of Tonghai the road passes by Lishan, a local tourist attraction for its modest karst cave and the jungle food available in the restaurants. Then it winds into the hills to Gaoda, 17 km south. The main road turns east to Jianshui and the branch road leads directly south into the hills of northern Shiping County. After about 30 km it reaches the high plain and rolling hills of Shaochong and Longpeng townships, home of the Huayao Yi, one of the most colourfully dressed branches of the Yi.

The Huayao Yi woman's costume consists of a lavishly embroidered vest over a long-sleeved jacket with a long tail that hangs to the back of the knees. Around their waist they tie a belt with two wide, diamond-shaped ends, fully embroidered in a lush floral style, draped over the buttocks. Hence the name Huayao Yi-Flowery Waist Yi. On their heads they wear a cap with two rectangular flaps erect in the back, also lavishly embroidered. Plain black trousers with a blue stripe at the ankles complete the costume, plus shoes, but the shoes might also be embroidered. The bonnet seems to be the one component still in widespread use, even when the women are otherwise in modern garb. But many older women wear the complete outfit and a good percentage of younger women sometimes dress up Yi-style for market days.

The Huayao Yi live in mud-brick houses with flat roofs, on which they lay out their crops to dry, and an open-air central courtyard. Behind this slightly sunken courtyard is the main receiving room, while sleeping quarters are mostly upstairs. Many kilns also stand in the village area, some nicely sited on the ridges, for the Yi raise a lot of tobacco, besides rice, wheat and vegetables. Like most Yi groups they observe the Torch Festival, but even more important to them is Jilong-Worshipping the Dragon Ancestor-which runs for three days beginning the first horse day of the Lunar New Year. It includes a grand dragon procession around the fields, rites at the set of three stones representing the village's ancestors, skits with men on stilts and a number of dances with dozens of women performing in their gorgeous costumes.

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