Learning Bai
Bai 白族话 is the language spoken by the Bai people 白族 in the Dali area. While Chinese has become the lingua franca, Bai is still actively spoken by many, particularly older people, but it does not have a native written form and comes in many dialects. Here we list the available resources for learning this difficult language.
Hidden in the forests above Shangyun 上允 are the ruins of a Buddhist temple fortress founded during the Qing Dynasty by separatist monks from Jizushan who built a significant religious following by the local Lahu and Dai people.
Judith Shapiro: Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China
Even if Chinese civilization has developed more against than with nature, the Mao years were a particular exercise in environmental destruction. In one case-study Shapiro tells the story of the draining of the northern part of Dianchi Lake, one of the first steps turning Kunming's lake into the fetid cess-pool it is today.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Nuodeng is an ancient Bai salt producing village in Yunlong.
The turn of the Yangzi made Chinese civilization possible and was the location of many important battles.
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.
Bai wedding customs.
A history trading post on the upper reaches of the Yangzi.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Walnut Festival | 01 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship | 02 Sep |
| Caishen Birthday | 03 Sep |
| Lanterns on the Lake | 03 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship | 03 Sep |
| Songgui Temple Fair | 03 Sep |
| Dragon King Worship | 04 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship (Fengyu Area) | 04 Sep |
| Fangsheng at Bamu Temple | 04 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship (Jianchuan Area) | 04 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship | 04 Sep |
| Fangsheng | 04 Sep |
Markets this Tuesday
| Kunming | 昆明 |
|---|---|
| Kedu | 柯渡镇 |
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Zhongsuo | 中所 |
| Fuheng | 富恒 |
| Fengyu | 风羽 |
| Yongping | 永平县 |
| Liandong | 炼洞 |
| Haidong | 海东 |
| Guanping | 关平 |
| Yinqiao | 银桥 |
| Baofeng | 宝丰乡 |
| Madeng | 马镫 |
| Binju | 宾居 |
| Shuijing | 水井 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Qinghaiying | 青海营 |
| Deju | 德苴乡 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| Baoshan | 保山市 |
|---|---|
| Xiaopingtian | 小平田 |
| Tengchong | 腾冲县 |
| Wama | 瓦马彝族白族乡 |
| Yuxi | 玉溪 |
|---|---|
| Mosha | 漠沙镇 |
| Nujiang | 怒江 |
|---|---|
| Gudeng | 古登 |
| Bingzhongluo | 丙中洛 |
| Lishadi | 利沙底乡 |