Hainan’s tribal culture

Today we had agreed on an excursion to Binglanggu (Betel nut valley) Li & Miao Cultural Heritage Park, about an hour out of town.  It is somewhat of a tourist trap but how bad can it be after yesterday?  At least here, we will get to learn about the native people of Hainan.

I opted to stay in for breakfast, finishing my muesli so that I will have no food to declare returning to New Zealand.

We had organised Mr Kong who brought us back from Nanshan, to pick us up at 0800.  Getting to the Binglanggu, I was pleased that there was no queues of cars and no crowds.

Again, the site is huge and there were a multitude of options.  All we wanted was to see the cultural and tribal aspects of the people and watch some performances.

The driver recommended an option which seemed ridiculously expensive but then I realised the first column was a rack rate which nobody pays.  The real price was tolerable.  Mr Kong paid and we reimbursed him, presumably so that he could collect a commission.

Soon after paying, we were approached by a pleasant Li tribe young lady who offered to guide us around for CNY50 (as a group rather than per person).  It ended up being the right thing to do.  We had an hour with her guiding after which she explained what we should do for the rest of the visit.

The visit started with a walk upstairs where we saw various aspects of the Li life and culture such as weaving, bark clothing, tapestry and guasha (body scarping but with water rather than oil).  It was déjà vu with noisy crowds made worse by guides blaring their commentaries through microphones, trying to outdo the noise of the crowd and other guides.

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After our hour with the guide, we took a buggy halfway uphill where there were various sights to keep us entertained for over 2 hours.

This included:

• A small cultural performance.
• Exploration of a model village life and Li culture. In particular, we saw their granaries, learnt about their love shacks, weaving, alcohol production, climbing the areca nut tree and bark cloth production.
• A large cultural performance extravaganza which included a parade of ducks, goats and a water buffalo.

One notable aspect of their culture is their young gain independence from the ir parents in their early and mid-teens.  Boys go to build their own places while parents build a love shack next to their home so their daughter can have romantic interludes.

A man sings to win over a woman romantically in the Li culture.  A man is nothing if he cannot sing and climb the areca nut tree.

The native culture of Hainan has much in common to those in northern Indochina, Taiwan, Malaysia/Borneo, Indonesia and Philippines.  These similarities include costumes, silverware, top-spinning, love for the areca nut, love for betel leaves with lime powder and the bamboo dance.

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We took another buggy to the highest point of the park to visit the bird park.  While they had a few interesting specimens, none were particular new to me and we followed the exit signs which led us down a several staircases down to the buggy stop at the mid-level of the entire park (rather than the nearby buggy stop).

We exited the park around 1330, some 3h30 after we had entered. Apart from a crowded and noisy start, this visit was quite bearable.  I took a leak at the toilet just outside of the ticket area and was amused by a different take of Neil Armstrong’s famous line.

At the toilet; a different take on Neil Armstrong’s famous line.

Back in the city around 1430, I had another chasiu and meatloaf meal at a difference place and then an icy coconut milk dessert.

It was 1500 by the time we returned to the room for a rest.  In the evening, we took a walk around town and discovered an underground shopping mall which wasn’t too happening.

We finished with a simple dinner where I opted for Pao Luo Vermicelli.  It was quite similar to some versions of the Hainan Vermicelli (which sometimes taste very different from other versions).