The Bai in Early Chinese Minority Film
After Liberation in 1949 Chinese cinema became a propaganda medium for the New China. The 1950 saw cinemas spreading to all towns, showing movies meant to increase the socialist spirit and fostering national unit. China's ethnic minorities often featured in these films before the Cultural Revolution. Only after its end played ethnic minority themes a role again. Here we look at films from before 2000 that feature the Bai minority.
The watermills in Fengqing's Gumo village operate just like a thousand years ago.
Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-I: Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan
Fei is the father of modern sociology in China: western-trained, he came to Yunnan at the end of the 1930s when China's eastern universities relocated west. In "Earthbound China" he applied modern empirical techniques that he had pioneered around Shanghai to the Chinese hinterland. The economical development, and subsequent societal changes, of three un-named, but typical villages in Yunnan is analyzed in great detail in this fascinating study.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Central point of the activities of the third day of Raosanling.
Hometown of many Bai merchants, Xizhou boast some impressive architecture.
Jim Goodman: Living in Shangrila: Tibetans and Mosuo in Northwest Yunnan
Abstract: When Diqing Prefecture, opened its doors to foreign visitors in 1992, tourist agencies and government officials promoted Zhongdian County as the Shangrila of James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon. In 2001 the city officially changed its name to Shangrila. On a high plateau of over 3200 meters, surrounded by snow covered mountain peaks, inhabited mainly by relatively prosperous, friendly and contented Tibetans, with beautiful monasteries, lakes, forests and summer flowers, the county’s scenery and lifestyle certainly bore a strong resemblance to that in the novel. Living in Shangrila describes the life and environment of the Tibetan people throughout Diqing Prefecture. It also examines their neighbors the Mosuo, a branch of the Naxi nationality, who adopted Tibetan Buddhism as their religion, but are still mainly a matrilineal society, unique to Yunnan, living around Lugu Lake, the most picturesque body of water in the province. The book includes over 200 photographs.
Traditional toys in Jianchuan county.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
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Markets this Saturday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Zhoucheng | 州城 |
| Yongping | 永平县 |
| Lijiao | 力角 |
| Paiying | 排营 |
| Shijing | 师井 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Diannan | 甸南 |
| Yinqiao | 银桥 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Jiangwei | 江尾镇 |
| Deju | 德苴乡 |
| Changyi | 长邑村 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| Beiya | 北衙 |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| Midian | 米甸镇 |
| 桥街 | |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| 西庄 | |
| 寅街村 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Xinansuo | 新安所镇 |
| Mengla | 勐拉 |
| Daheishan | 大黑山乡 |
| Leyu | 乐育 |
| Xinxian | 新现乡 |
| Longwu | 龙武镇 |
| Xinjie | 新街 |
| Maandi | 马鞍底 |
| Zhaotong | 昭通 |
|---|---|
| Shuanghe | 双河 |