The Yi People

 

(Interview)

Ellen Douglas, Host

00:03 The Yi people are all farmers. In this region in particular the main crop is Makah; it's a root that is medicinal. I'm surrounded here by Makah fields. The Yi people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam and Thailand. They number 8 million, and are the 7th largest of the 55 ethnic minorities officially recognized in China. The largest population of the Yi people today can be found in the Yunnan Mountains.

 

00:40 Nigel Fisher is one of those rare souls with the ability to connect with all kinds of people, and the desire to meet and know everyone. The Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang, he was generous with his time and knowledge.

 

(Interview)

Ellen Douglas - Host

01:02 Tell me about this place.

 

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

"We're just outside a little village called Wen Hi, the lake behind us is Wen Lake, or Wen Hi. This is a Naxi and Yi area, the Naxi people tend to live around Lijiang in the highlands, and the Yi people live high in the mountains. We drove through and area called the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Range, we’re standing behind Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The village that we're going to visit later on, where the Yi people come from, that's right on the back of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain."

 

Ellen Douglas - Host

01:32 What attracts you to the Yi people?

 

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

01:35 It's quite a funny story; this was a bit of an accidental tourism experience. A colleague of mine got lost, and ended up going on these roads, high into the mountains. And he told me about where he's been and the village. The Yi people are quite unique, the way they dress, their language, what they do. It ticks all the right boxes in terms of a race of people who have their own strong culture. I love the color, I love the simplicity of their lives and I love the welcoming attitude they have towards strangers, that's what attracts me.

 

02:08 When we were up in Wen Hi today, the Yi children who came with us attend the Wen Hi School. We've had a relationship with the primary school in Wen Hi for many years; we do several things with them on an annual basis. The first thing that we do is we celebrate children's day, and we go up there as part of our feeding communities program, we put on a big barbecue for them, we entertain the teachers as well, and play games with them, give away prizes. And we do that annually; it sort of maintains that relationship with them. During the year we also we assist them, for example, with books for the library, we will give them funding for things like solar hot water that they need on the roof of their school. Because the children live there during the week, and in the wintertime it's quite cool. So that's all under the umbrella of Banyan Tree.

 

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

02:59 What is your name?

Girl

My name is Conchufan.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

Con-chu-fan?

 

Ellen Douglas - Host

03:07 The Yi ethnic group has it's own spoken and written language, and it has 6 dialects. They used to have a syllabic script, written in the 13th century, although it's really not used much today. And most Yi people speak Mandarin. I'm being told, when not in school, they help with the household work and the farming, and they also come down here and put costumes on and do things for a bit of money, as there is a bit of tourism here in the high season. Look at the detail that goes into these costumes. The regions here are known for embroidery. Of course, my friend and guide Nigel personally knows a lovely Yi family that I just had to meet.

 

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

03:55 Welcome to the Lu household, in Sunanguo, I think that's how you pronounce it, I can't remember.

Ellen Douglas - Host

This is great! Ni hao.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

Hey boys.

 

Ellen Douglas - Host

04:11 Yi women, once married and with children, have traditional headdresses that they wear all the time. Usually it's the larger square one, very decorated, that's the traditional one. But there's so much to do in the fields and work, that the women will often go to a more comfortable headdress, like this one here; I just love these traditional costumes, they're so beautiful. She tells me that the headdress isn't hot, it's just inconvenient at times.

 

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

04:45 I met Mr. Kang and his family, they brought us into their home, they insisted that we stay for lunch, they cooked for us, and Mr. Kang, sitting on the floor in his house with a wooden plank sticking out of a stone floor fire, guns on the wall, chickens in the yard, made us this incredible lunch. He then went on and shared wolfberry mountain wine with us, and we drank tea and I was absolutely hooked. My first experience with the Yi people was quite unlike anything I'd come across before. It really is the multipurpose fire, it's the heater, it's the cooker, it's the water boiler, and it never goes out.

 

Ellen Douglas - Host

05:27 And I always notice, no matter where you go in China, there's a wok and there's chopsticks.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

Across all cultures really.

 

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

05:37 So what you've got here is just the typical food from the region, okay? You've got local potatoes, sliced, pan fried with chili, spring onion, a little bit of oil, these are local mushrooms literally picked of the side of a hill, will locally grown, again, the spring onion, mutton, dried but then stewed, and here of course is the mountain pancake, which is buckwheat.

 

Ellen Douglas - Host

06:02 Well let's dig in.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

Let me tear one of these for you, break bread with friends.

Ellen Douglas - Host

Very, very heavy, doughy, almost gelatinous.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

No salt, but if you're going to dig Makah in the field everyday this is what you're going to eat.

Ellen Douglas - Host

Those are excellent, spicy, very spicy.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

 Not too spicy I hope.

Ellen Douglas - Host

No, but I think for some it would be too spicy.

Nigel Fisher - Manager of the Banyan Tree Lijiang

That's pungent, that's a mushroomy mushroom.

 

Ellen Douglas - Host

06:46  There is something really special about meeting people willing to give of themselves, in spite of cultural and language differences. I felt welcomed, humbled and honored everyday that I got to spend in these beautiful mountains. We've all seen these types of stories through our screens and televisions, and we all think we get it, the differences and similarities, but the more I travel on these journeys the more I realize, I've got a lot to learn about the beauty of cultures and the intricacies of people, and the journey really is a beautiful one.