Today we traveled far outside the city to visit a small ethnic village of the Tus. The Tus are 1 of the 56 officially recognized minorities of China. This small village (and the surrounding area) has the highest density of Tus in all of China!
They welcomed us in by giving us these white silk scarves and alcohol. A lot of people in my program thought that was a great way to say hello!
After passing through the main gate, we ate lunch in a tent. It wasn’t just any tent though. It was beautifully decorated on the inside while the waitresses all wore traditional clothes.
Next we got a tour of their local museum and walked around to see the beautiful mountain view.
The last thing we did in the village was see a traditional performance. I found this very interesting because young people sang, dance, and performed a scene from a traditional play.
Although I really enjoyed the performances, it was hard not to think that these people were stuck in between preserving their culture while still participating in the modern world. All the performances and museum exhibits were filled with their rich history but during lunch, the tent had a huge flat screen TV which showed a Han Chinese soap opera.
Since I was visiting this village, I wanted to learn more about The Tus not Han Chinese culture. However, I don’t think its fair to make these people only express their traditional culture- rejecting modern society. I guess most small ethnic groups in the world are in this same situation. I don’t know if there is a solution though without exploiting the people through tourism.
That evening I ate at the COOLEST restaurant. It was similar to a 50’s style American restaurant but with the Cultural Revolution in China. It was a hot pot restaurant so the waitress, all dressed up in the red army uniform, asked what meats and vegetables you wanted so you could cook it yourself.
Since we spent about $5 per person (which apparently is a lot), the restaurant gave us free Mao pins as a souvenir. Who knew becoming a Communist was so fun and easy!
