China is a large country with 56 minority groups which have their distinct ways of living and cultures. I believe not only foreigners but also Chinese people themselves are interested in knowing Chinese folk culture. I am one of them. I like their unique clothes and decorations and the minority people who are known to be good at singing and dancing. For those who take China Tours, one question may be “how can I make a quick acquaintance with so many Chinese Minority groups during my china travel?” Before I was as puzzled as those people, but now I can suggest a good place for them, that is, Shenzhen Splendid China Folk Culture Village.
Located at the overseas Chinese town in Shenzhen, Chinese Folk Culture Village covers an area of more than ten thousand square meters. It assembles folk art of various minority groups, their customs and local-style dwelling houses. It has gained the good reputation of “folk custom museum of China”.
I went there with my friend on July 10 when they were holding the colorful
Yunnan water-splashing festival. So everywhere in the village was colorful with umbrellas hanging on the trees. Then we walk into villages of some minority groups.
The first minority group we saw is the Mongolian Nationality which is mainly distributed in Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. With a population of over 4.80 million, it has its own language and script, the language belongs to Mongolian language, Altaic family, and the traditional Mongolian script is still in use at present.
Mongolian people live in yurts(蒙古包) and live mainly on hunting. So they are good at riding horses and shooting. Their clothes are made out of animals’ furs. Bulls are considered as divine and worshipped by Mongolians.
Later we came across the performance of Wa Nationality which was humorous and interesting. From the introduction of a black guy we know that Wa Nationality mainly lives in Ximeng and Cangyuan of Yunnan Province, with a population of 350 thousand. It uses Wa language, without its own script.
Wa people are born black and they think the blacker one looks, the prettier he/she is. The blackest girl will be called the Black snow princess, and the blackest young man called black horse prince. They are so humorous! The two photos were taken when they were dancing. The young man was waving the unique weapon and the girl was waving her long hairs.
We also watched the performance of Yi Nationality. Unlike Wa people, Yi people look whiter. The performance showed us the story of Ashima (a beautiful girl of Yi nationality) which revealed the simple but happy daily life of the Yi people.
I guess above pictures must have drawn your attention. They are really beautiful. However, trust me, the live scenery is more vivid and amazing!
By the way, you can feel the folk culture here not only by your eyes, you can also do it yourself. My friend and I attempted to ride a disobedient horse. It was exciting! And you can go to join the dancing whenever you come across one. The minority people will teacher you how to dance the way they are dancing. In addition, you can taste different kinds of food along one road.
So, if you are interested in Chinese folk culture too, you might as well go to Shenzhen Splendid China Folk Village where you can really have a taste of Chinese folk culture. People there are ready to make friends with anyone who Travel to Guangzhou and to Shenzhen for knowing Chinese culture better.
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