Xin Jie is the ancient provincial capital city of the Yuan Yang county in the Yunnan province of China. The new capital was relocated at a much lower elevation and in a much more accessible part of the county in the 1990s. (Due in part to the still present danger of landslides during the rainy season.) Yunnan is the southern most province of China and borders Myanmar (previously Burma), Laos and Vietnam. Because of it’s location and topography there are a wide variety of ethnic minorities living throughout the area. Wherever we go we see people in garb which is both colorful and exotic. It’s hard to imagine unless you see it but the clothing and traditions of the people change even after a relatively short drive from one mountain village to another. (Again - check out the pictures in our photo gallery or Google the “Hani” , “Sani” and “Dai” peoples to get an idea of what I mean.)
So - anyway - we arrived here after a long day and Mr. Babson and I decided to stretch our legs by walking over to the town square a couple of blocks from our hotel. The streets of Xin Jie are in very poor repair, with pot-holes and rubble scattered about, so we were surprised to walk up the stairs to the town square and find a beautifully maintained stone plaza about half the size of a football field. What really shocked us though were the combination of sights and cacophony of sounds that cascaded over us as we walked to the center of the square.
Imagine if you will that football field I mentioned before. On either side are 2-3 story buildings. The first floor of each consists of a combination of shops and cafes - some looking quite modern with bright lights and shiny counters, others are barely lit and cluttered with products ranging from toys to food to electrical supplies. One end of the square has a long stone wall from which you look out over an incredible expanse of towering mountains which seem to go on forever. The road we took up to this town zig-zags up at precariously steep angles on the edge of dizzying drop-offs into oblivion. At the other end of the square the town has erected a huge outdoor television screen (20 feet or so across) which was broadcasting the nightly news. (Unfortunately there was something wrong with the screen so the top half of the picture was cut off.)
But, you may ask, “What was happening “on the foot ball field”?”
Well, that depends on where you looked....directly in front of the huge TV screen were a group of 20 or so older women doing aerobic exercises to music. They had set up a lap-top computer to a rather powerful sound system and were following along with what the people on screen were doing. (By the time we left the square there were more than 40 people participating including a couple of men - though I think some of them were mocking the ladies a bit.)
Twenty feet or so beyond the ladies were two humongous rainbow colored inflatable play areas. Each one was about 15 feet tall by 12 feet across with 2-3 “slides” and assorted things to bounce and play on. Each was also covered with children ranging from age 5-8 squealing like maniacs and having the time of their lives. A couple of women sat amidst the piles of their shoes, while the parents chatted with neighbors and took pictures. There were two rides for the smaller children nearby. One was a tiny merry-go-round with little planes and the other was a four-car train. Each car had it’s own steering wheel and the little kids were “vrrooming” and giggling their brains out under watchful parents’ eyes.
Amidst all of this a young man marched into the middle of the square and began to set up some equipment including flashing “disco” lights and an amplifier. He turned up the volume of a pop song full blast which drew a crowd. After a seemingly endless series of “Wei - Wei - Wei”. (“Hello - Hello - Hello”) he began to sing. (Though I’m pretty sure he was lip-syncing it!) The aerobic ladies were somewhat irritated but just turned the volume up on their music resulting in “dueling” amps. At that moment a young woman arrived with a small 3-4 yr old child and older woman in tow and SHE set up a small amplifier between the other two groups. Hers played traditional music, however, to which she, the older woman and child danced a lovely traditional folk dance.
Though we could have watched the “show” for hours we had to head back to the hotel for dinner with the “crew”. On our way we passed the square’s huge fountain (sans water) which dominated the far corner of the square. A larger than life statue of a peasant man and his water buffalo was at it’s base. Sitting on the side of the fountain - water buffalo behind them - was a group of 5-6 older men playing cards and smoking - oblivious to the cacophony of light, sound and action around them. Such was our introduction to this isolated mountain top city and only one of the many fascinating sights we’ve seen since arriving here in China.
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