Yunnan Xishuangbanna Day 4 Morning market

We left LiJiang on a 9:30 pm flight and arrived in Xishuangbanna and hour later. By the time we checked into the Dai Ethnic Garden Hotel it was midnight. The beds were very hard.

The minority people here are called the Dai. There are 300,000 souls. Dai means freedom. The Dai migrated throughout south west China. There are three Dai minorities, the water Dai live near the river, the mountain Dai live in the mountains and the flower Dai (their belt is colorful and many are Muslim).

The village we are in, Xishuangbanna (1 million people) has an interesting meaning. Xishuang menas 12,000 and banna means rice field. We are in a beautiful valley that reminds me of the 40 shades of green in Ireland.

1950 revolution happened 6 months after the east of China. Pre-1950 there were 41 kings. the first imperial palace was built here in 1160. The last king lives in Kunming. In 1517 there was a war with Burma. The king here had one daughter and she married a Burmese king. As a wedding gift this area was divided among the two.

We arrived at a ferry port on the Mekong River locally called Lancang within the China borders. This river starts from Mount Tanggula in Tibet and runs down through Yunnan province, through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam into the South Sea.

This little girl and her father (on the bike with a fresh chicken hanging off the side) are waiting for the ferry with us. The local people were very interested in 30 foreigners carrying cameras.

A ferry just left, we were all gaping at the goings ons; we will wait for the next ferry. We crossed the river, stayed on the boat and came back. There were two ferries and cars, trucks, people on bikes and motorbikes were making good use of this way across the river.

This morning market is in the village of Ganlanba (water Dai people). The name means tail of the peacock. It is most beautiful. The people here practice Buddhism. All boys must be monks(girls will not marry a boy who is uneducated). The schooling is all provided through the monasteries (it seems that in all of history, the religious are always the teachers). They attend for 1, 3, or 5 years. Girls do not go to school thus never learn the written language. It was the dream of our guide (25 years old) to learn the written language (her other dreams are to see snow and to take a train). She asked her father to teach her and he said no. She went to Burma and learned on her own.

People marry at 13 or 14 years old, they are young parents and retire young. they marry first cousins to keep the land in the family.

This fish vendor tries his luck away from the fish vending area. The bowls in the front hold blown up stomachs. The bowl in the back holds fish heads for fish head soup. Yum. Nothing like fresh!

Pig snouts in the front and pig feet at the back on the right. We did see a whole head for sale but the woman quickly put it in a plastic bag out of our sight.

Snails and peppers. Pretty combination.

Here is a beautiful display of spices in the foreground and seed packets in the background.

Fishing nets.

This woman shaved off the outside of lengths of bamboo. She wrapped rice and spices in a leaf, rolled the leaf and put it inside of the bamboo to roast on the fire.

Tom and a fellow traveler wait for us as we wander on. The market is long and very interesting. I bought some red thin wool yarn. It was from NZ but processed in Shanghai. I also bought two baskets that markets use for display. They are horseshoe shaped and open at one end. One is rougher woven than the other.