by Jim Goodman
Hani villagers en route to Majie market day, Yuanyang County |
The problem with most towns in
the southern half of Yunnan is that they are basically uninteresting in
themselves, consisting primarily of drab, box-like, concrete buildings. They may have an attractive park or temple,
and perhaps an old-fashioned Dai neighborhood to wander through, but not much
else to maintain interest. But on market day everything changes. The otherwise boring town bubbles with
excitement.
Market day (gangai or ganji in the Yunnan dialect) is a periodic event common to most
county seats, as well as many townships up in the hills. Some places host them weekly, others
every four, five or six days. (Check
the link to yunnanexplorer.com for a complete schedule.) At such times not only does the central
market fill with buyers and sellers, the commercial activity spills out into
the adjacent streets and lanes. In
some small towns market day stalls fill the only road going through, resulting
in an often incredible traffic jam all afternoon.
Miao examining batik cloth |
Laomeng Sunday market |
Villagers from the surrounding
plains and nearest mountain ranges swarm into town, some leaving their homes at
sunrise in order to arrive at mid-morning, when everything's still fresh. They carry their goods, perhaps
including their afternoon rice, in baskets of split bamboo, suspended on a
carrying pole, if Dai, or slung on the back, if from the hills. Others lead ponies or mules laden with
full saddle baskets. Unless they
rent space in the central marketplace, they will look for a convenient empty
spot on a nearby lane, drop their loads and set up shop. Most markets, though, do have
designated areas for the poultry, the pigs, for keeping the ponies, etc. The rest of the streets are open for
any kind of business.
Wa women in Gengma |
The phenomenon is not restricted
to the southern counties of the province.
Some in the north, such as the ones around Dali, have long been tourist
attractions. Generally speaking,
though, market days in the northern counties attract only one, at most two,
ethnic minorities. Bai dominate
around Dali Prefecture and further north, Yi in Chuxiong Prefecture, Lisu in
upper Nujiang, Naxi in Lijiang and Weixi.
In contrast, the populations
in the south, particularly along the international boundaries, are ethnically
more mixed, thus making market day more interesting and colorful, for the
crowds, mostly women, tend more often to wear their ethnic clothing. Zhangfeng's market in Dehong, for
instance, draws Dai, Jingpo, De'ang, Lisu and Burmese. At the other end of Yunnan in Jinping,
market day attracts Hani, two kinds of Yao, Miao, Dai and Yi, plus Vietnamese,
Yao and Giay from over the border.
Dai woman embroidering in Gengma market |
Trade is the primary
attraction. People pile their
garden produce, jungle herbs, grain, firewood, animal parts, costume components
or whatever into their baskets and take the sometimes long and hilly trail to
town, hoping to sell the contents and replace them with something unavailable
or out of stock at home. But that
may not be their only activity. If
they sell out early they will take time looking around, checking what else is
for sale, at what price, especially if it's something they might be able to
grow, make or find themselves.
Some even walk all that way precisely to just look around, bearing no
load of goods to sell and bringing no money to purchase anything. They hadn't anything special to do back
in the village, they can get some ideas for their future maybe, and anyway
market day is always pleasantly diverting.
checking deerskins in Zhangfeng, Dehong |
Certainly socializing is part
of the action. Relatives and old friends from outlying villages may meet, take
a break from shopping, and dine together at one of the noodle stands. Or they could make new friends by
taking an empty seat at a table with other diners or joining the drinkers at
one of the places selling liquor. Neighbors
make the journey in groups. Young
men scout the scene for attractive young women, for courtship in village
societies often begins with an introduction at the market.
Aware of this, the young women
dress their best. Dai girls pin
flowers to their hair. Miao girls
wear newly embroidered clothes.
Yao girls don their heavy silver jewelry. For most minority women in the southern counties aesthetic
standards are still within the tribal parameters. They feel the most attractive outfit they can wear is their
finest traditional costume. At
many of these market venues ethnic minority women set up stalls selling traditional
jewelry, materials for making ethnic apparel, components or even whole outfits,
for those too busy to make their own.
medicinal herbs in Yuanyang |
In traditional societies the
men are more in contact with the outside world, more likely to be influenced by
the opinions they hear as a result, and more likely to want to move anonymously
in unfamiliar environments, not calling attention to themselves by, for
instance, wearing ethnic clothing.
The women, by contrast, move out of their immediate environment far less
often and so are more likely to retain their traditional esthetic sense.
Lahu girls in Menglian |
Hani girl in Jinping |
Yi clothing stall in Yuanyang |
With this in mind, a traveler can choose which minority seems
to be the most interesting, find out who they are and where they live. In some cases you won’t learn by asking
the minority women themselves, for they may not speak Chinese. But the shopkeepers and minibus drivers
probably know or can find out for you.
There may be mini-buses going to the places they come from and you can
decide when to pay a call. Or if
they came to market day on foot they may live close enough to the town that you
need but a short hike to visit them.
They may even invite you themselves (which has happened to me quite a
lot) for your own personal encounter, particularly if you are alone, to enjoy
the conviviality of a new friendship at their home.
Much can be deduced about the
area's economy by observing market day activity. Urban vendors sell prepared food, ready-made clothing, metal
containers, farm tools and other items not produced in the countryside. What the rural folks bring to sell
tells the visitor something of their lifestyle and their role in the local
economy. The vegetables mountain
folk offer may differ from those grown in the valleys. If only the hill people are hawking
firewood, bamboo, jungle herbs, etc., that means valley people depend on them
for such items. If the hill folks
are buying rice in autumn or winter, it means they don't cultivate it. If they are selling rice, that means
they’ve produced a surplus. If
they've walked all this way to sell something that costs but a few yuan for the entire contents of their
baskets, they are obviously poor people.
Yao and Hani in the Jinping market |
In the south and southwest the
Dai are the grain merchants and run most food stalls. Xishuangbanna has three weekly markets; Thursdays in Xiding,
drawing mainly Aini and Bulang, and Sundays in Menghun, with local Dai joined
by Aini, Ake (a colorful sub-branch), Bulang and Lahu from the hills, and
Mengman in the west, with mainly Dai and Aini. Menglian's market day attracts very traditional and colorful
Lahu, Aini and Wa from the hills, while Menga's, on the Myanmar border two days
later, draws the same folks, except Aini, from both sides. In Gengma, one of the largest markets
in the southwest, Dai and Han join Wa, Yi and Lahu, where all but the Han dress
traditional style. And in
Mengding, Wa and De’ang join two kinds of Dai.
Hani in Yuanyang for market day |
In lower Ailaoshan, the four
counties--Honghe, Luchun, Yuanyang and Jinping--between the Red River and the
Vietnam border, the institution of market day is at its most developed. Yuanyang hosts it every four days, the
other three county seats every six days.
In addition, every major township holds its own market day and by now
enjoys regular minibus service to and from the county seat.
The Hani are the dominant
mountain people, with a dozen or more sub-groups. Branches of the Yi, Miao and Yao are next most common, while
the Zhuang and Dai here are largely terrace-farmers, too. Ailaoshan Dai are animist, not
Buddhist, except for a small group in Jinping County, and often travel from the
plains up into the mountains for market day activities. Successful surplus production and
improved transportation links make market day in this area a real
spectacle. And at every venue
several stalls will sell Hani or Yi jackets, trousers, embroidered belts,
sashes, silver jewelry, Miao batik cloth, etc., for most Ailaoshan minority
women own several traditional outfits.
Yi on guitar in Yuanyang |
Certain Ailaoshan residents,
mostly men, have become professional market-goers. Familiar with the buying and selling prices of commodities
from one venue to another, they tour the townships every week, buying from one
and selling for a profit at another a day or two later. Others, often women, sell the same
product moving from one market day venue to the next. In Jinping County, for example, Hongtou Yao women start at
Adebo’s market day, north of Jinping city, move next day to Jinping, the
following day to Mengla and the fourth day to Nafa, on the Vietnam border.
For the rural folks of
southern Yunnan, market day gets better every year. No wonder it’s still a
popular institution It’s
like a regular working holiday, with lots to see, much to learn, many items to
trade, sometimes music to hear as stall-tenders bring along a flute or guitar
to play while they are there, or a drunken lute-player wanders through the
crowd. There are old friends to
meet and new friends and contacts to make. Even the younger generation is enthusiastic and youth make
up a large proportion of those in attendance. For not only can they make a little money through their
participation, they may even find a suitable marriage partner, one with whom to
set up house and field, produce more than the family can consume, and take the
surplus to town on market day, where their new life actually began.
.
going home after market day in Yuanyang |
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for more on Ailaoshan markets and people se my e-book The Terrace Builders
for more on Ailaoshan markets and people se my e-book The Terrace Builders
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