A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Lijiang, China

We went to see the Naxi Traditional Orchestra last night, on the recommendation of another traveler. She billed it as some kind of combination of the Buena Vista Social Club and Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road project. This may have been a bit of an overstatement, though admittedly the musicians were as old as the hills (and appeared to nap between songs) and it was a very Asian sound.

It was interesting, don't get me wrong, but I'm a bit of a cretin when it comes to weird foreign music -- a little goes a long way with me, and the visuals are more interesting than the sound. So it went on a half hour too long from my point of view, but it was worthwhile.

To back up a little, the Naxi are the dominant ethnic group around Lijiang, a mountain town in the far Southwestern area of China not far from Tibet and Myanmar (Burma). They descend from Tibetan tribes, have been in the area for 1400 years, adn are strongly matriarchal, though local political rulers are actually male. The Lonely Planet guide gives a couple of fun bits of information about the Naxi. First, they have no marriage in the community. A couple would become lovers without living together; any children were cared for by the mother and her female relatives. Men lived with their mothers, and supported the child only until the relationship was over. Paternity was not an issue much sweated over. Best of all, women inherit all property, adn disputes are decided by female judges.

The Naxi language reflects this matriarchal bent as well. The addition of the character for "femal" will strengthen a noun, while the addition of "male" will weaken it. So adding "female" to the word "stone" will make it into "boulder", while adding "male" makes it a pebble. I don't know why, but that one just cracks me up.

There are lots of folks in traditional Naxi dress (blue blouse, trousers, apron, t-shaped cape) dancing in the Lijiang square, selling various things and just generally present throughout the day. The old town, restored after a 1996 earthquake, is such a tourist trap that I suspect they're all being paid to show up. Regardless, they are very colorful and look authentic at least, and little could detract from the beautiful mountain setting, traditional architecture, and lovely canals of this town. Well, maybe the zillions of photo-snapping, cell-phone-using Chinese tourists and the hundreds of shops could, but not completely. Tomorrow I'm heading out on a three-day trek in Tiger Leaping Gorge, so I shouldn't be seeing any of either for a while.


Click here for a site showing pictures of Lijiang.



Copyright 2003 Katy Warren
posted by Katy at 10:13 PM