Lijiang  

cctv.com 04-05-2005 17:17

In the south of China, there is a fabled paradise with many beautiful stories. Many claim it’s in northwest Yunnan close to the border of Sichuan. Much of the West's knowledge of it came originally from the Austrian-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock, who lived in northwest Yunnan for 27 years. But my desire for Lijiang and Shangri-La comes from James Hilton’s novel, Lost Horizon.

There is always a beautiful natural picture behind any legend. During my 81 days traveling in China, I finally reach here. Lugu lake, ancient town and Dongba, all of them are the signs of Lijiang, and the ancient mill wheel witnesses the thousand year history of Lijiang’s culture. The love story in Lost Horizon moves me and during the trip to Lijiang my colleagues talk about Mosuo and Daughter’s Kingdom many times.

At night, I wander in Sifang street of Lijiang. Lijiang is full of bars which are very atmospheric. I hear the sound of Mosuo by accident and I find out it is a Mosuo Bar. There are many pictures of a mystic girl. Is it the story in the book?

Is it the real beauty of Lugu Lake? Is the Mosuo girl, Chacuo, happy or not? It is so mysterious and Mr. Xu, a Naxi artist, is my guide to help me pursue the mystery.

Xu Zhengqiang: Look, this is Lugu Lake. You can take a photo from here that includes the whole scene. I often come here to take photos.

Peter: so this is Lugu Lake, it’s the best view you get.

Xu Zhengqiang: Yes.

Peter: And Sichuan?

Xu Zhengqiang: All of them, including Sichuan

Lugu Lake is at the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. To reach here takes five hours in the bus; along mountain roads with terrifying switchbacks. When we turn at the crossroads, Lugu Lake suddenly appears. Is the girl in the picture at Lijiang’s bar here? Can I find her and her husband?

I’m in the Mosuo village of Luoshui, and I’m with the matriarch of the family who owns this home and this resort. It took us the best part of the day to get here from Lijiang, but it’s been a fantastic journey. We’ve come through the most wonderful mountain scenery, rural landscapes and we’re now right next to Lugu Lake. If you look through here, you can just see just the top of Lugu Lake. The name of the village, actually means drop into the lake or drop into the sea, which I think it’s very apt.

This village resembles a Wild West frontier town, with wooden buildings and ornate gates on the opposite side. Many farmers construct guest houses in their homes.

Like other visitors, we stay at a local person’s home. In the evening I meet and chat with an old man who was the first Mosuo to go to England. His name is Ruhengzichi. He stayed in England for 26 years then he decided to return to live out his days back in his home village with his remaining family.

In a Mosuo family, the most respected person is the matriarch; she is the leader of the whole family. The woman is with us is the matriarch of the family. The Mosuo culture is one of the last remaining matriarchal societies in the world and women head the households. They also practice a form of open marriage called zouhun, or walking marriage. Couples get together at night but they don't live together. The man returns to his home the next morning, eating all his meals there and sharing with the family chores. The couples don't share any possessions and children born from the relationship are brought up by the girl's mother and family. There is no father, but uncles. Lugu Lake is made for romance. It belongs to the region that believes in Tibetan Buddhism and here you can find Tibetan culture. Just like the simple Tibetan Stupa.

The life of Lugu Lake is simple but with spice. You can find the A Zhu and A Xia sing to each other in the daylight. At night, the firedance attracts many visitors. Maybe every man who arrives here wants to spend a nice night with a beautiful girl. Though I do not find a beautiful A Xia, I fall in love with this enchanting place. Even though it is late at night, my curiosity about Chacuo, the Mosuo girl, makes me go to her bar.

Zhang Jun: We were on the dock, just in the front of a bar. Before our meeting she drank with another young man who looked like me and she thought I was him. I was attracted by the clear expression in her eyes. It is difficult to find in the city. But it was not love at first sight, I only felt she was attractive. I fell in love with her when I got to know her. I loved her character more and more. But the first sight did move me. You hardly find such a thing in the city.

Cha Cuo: I looked on him as just another person and had no deep impression at first. Though my parents did not accept it, I came to love him. That was my destiny I think. Then we decided to open a tea bar at Lijiang. It is near here; if it were farther than that, even more than 20km, maybe we would part.

I can feel their happiness. Those Chacuo’s pictures are from different periods and are the main feature of this bar. They are not like other Mosuo families, they live upstairs togehter. Zhangjun tells me he is satisfied with his current life. He prefers the openness, clarity, purity and cultural system of Chacuo and Mosuo people more than the prosperity of a big city. Here you can feel the love and it reminds me of my wife and family.

Zhang Jun: It took more than a year before they accepted me. When I went to her home for the first time, her parents objected strongly. Her mother spoke to her in Mosuo language: there is no white crow in the sky, and there are no good Han people on the earth. Though I did not know Mosuo language, I knew she objected to me from her expression. Luckily Chacuo decided to go with me. She’s been a big support to me. After the opening of the bar at Lijiang, we would go back every two or three months. We did our best to persuade her parents and they accepted me step by step. In fact, the Mosuo families are willing to accept new things, but it is difficult for the Han people to change. For the Mosuo, since Chacuo had chosen me, for her happiness, they should accept me and help us. It took over a year to do this and when we had a baby, our relationship became better.

Their love story satisfies my desire for happiness. Every one I encounter at Lugu Lake is happy, just like the leisurely European life. The matriarchy civilization amazes me.

Cha Cuo: The matriarchial family is supported by the mother. The father and mother do not form a family. There is only a mother in the family and the children live together in this family, and obey the mother’s directions.

Peter: Can you explain the “Walking Marriage System”? It means you don’t have to get married; you can have a free and open relationship?

Cha Cuo: We get used to it when we’re children. Most of the families have no father, we only have a mother and uncles. It is difficult to describe Mosuo culture.

Zhang Jun: They get used to it.

Cha Cuo: I have got used to it, I don’t know how to express my feeling.

Zhang Jun: The only reason they get together is love. They will depart when love has disappeared. There are no problems related to belongings, children, and so on. Their relationship is pure. It’s a natural way of life. The Han or the western people have many problems when they want to part, but the Mosuo people haven’t. They get together just for love.

Peter: There is a custom that I’ve heard that if a girl fancies a boy, she makes a little sign on his palm. Can you explain that?

Cha Cuo: Yes, this is one way. But each has his own way. If a boy fancies a girl he does not sign in the palm, he may drop a little stone at the girl’s building. Some people do sign on the palm when they are dancing.

Though Chacuo is not as beautiful as in my imagination, I understand the Mosuo female more. The idea of walking marriage has a special kind of beauty. Mosuo people’s life style is just like the Tibetan’s. We are invited to enjoy breakfast of yak milk tea and corn bread in our landlady's home. Mosuo people keep the matrilineal family intact; all the offspring of the same maternal line live together and get along well. From the birth of a child to their understanding of the world, they are educated in the maternal culture. The male here always enjoys the walking marriage.

As a tourist I have visited more than 50 countries and countless places. The beauty and unspoiled natural landscape of Lugu Lake surprise me, but I worry about how long it can be preserved. My new-found Communist Party friend, Mr Zhang, the secretary of the county’s Communist Party, tells me about proposals to remove the tourist accommodation and re-site it. This would preserve the spirit of the village and stop it from being swamped with visitors. It would also protect the lake's fragile environment. The average depth of Lugu Lake is 40m and the deepest place is 73m. The visibility is 12m. It is an unpolluted freshwater lake. The special Mosuo matrilineal culture and the beautiful Lugu Lake attract more and more people.

Lugu lake is the last paradise in this world. For people always fall in love but never get married. The Mosuo people are so romantic. The male visits his lover who waits for him upstairs. The local religion of Mosuo is Daba. It doesn’t have written sutras, but relies on the oral passing from one generation to the next. Now it has almost died out. About the end of the Yuan dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism was introduced here. There is a legend that says the island in the lake is the birthplace of the Living Buddha. Mosuo people show their faith by turning prayer wheels.

My Lugu Lake trip is about to end. I’m unwilling to leave, for I will miss the beautiful mountains and lake. I will miss the innocent love. I am pleased for the happiness of Chacuo and Zhangjun. Few places have moved me so much. Children live together with their mothers, just like the stars move around the moon. I feel at home here, thanks to the charm of the Mosuo people

This palace copies the Forbidden City of Beijing. It is called Mufu. It was built by the lord of Lijiang in the early Ming dynasty, and was a gift from the emperor of Zhu Yuanzhang.

The master of Mufu was A De. He assisted the government in uniting the frontier fortresses around Lijiang in the early Ming dynasty. The government awarded him the family name of Mu and made him the ruler of Lijiang. The Mu family were the rulers of this area and they built this splendid mansion. The style of this architecture reflects the majesty of the ruler and the beauty of nature. Here you feel as if you’re in a real palace and can learn how luxurious life was for the powerful Mu family.

Standing at the top of Mufu, I look at the pure plateau of Snow Mountain. That’s our next destination: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. It’s only 15km far from the ancient town of Lijiang, but the vertical distance between them is 3200m. The mountain peak is covered with snow all year round, while the flowers at the foot of the mountain bloom all year. It’s a rare sight!

Many visitors are devotees of Snow Mountain and the cloths hung on trees carry their wishes. Six of us drive from Lijiang. Mr. Xu says that Snow Mountain is mystic. The weather on the mountain changes swiftly and only lucky people can see its vast panorama. The road to Snow Mountain is the longest in the world and visitors must take the world's longest gondola ride up to the top station - 15,000 feet high. A lot of people carry disposable oxygen canisters to help counter the thin air. The Naxi people have a legend about Jade Dragon Snow Mountain: the Mountain is the exterior symbol of the Naxi people, and the hero of the legend stands for the spirit of the people.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is the highest mountain in the Yun Mountain Range, and it’s the mountain with modern glacier in the lowest latitude of the Northern Hemisphere. It has 11 snow-capped peaks. We’re lucky as the sky is cloudless, the sun is shining in a clear blue sky and it’s warm. Everyone is immersed in the natural beauty. A lot of ancient glacier relics, important to specialists in this field, have been found here. American botanist Joseph Rock once lived at the foot of this mountain and researched the plants and Dongba culture. His books on these subjects include the Ancient Naxi Kingdom of Southwest China and the Cyclopedia for Naxi Language and English. It’s amazing when we finish filming, black clouds cover the sun.

At the base of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain I feel awed by nature. I suggest a visit to Rock’s house to see how he lived during his time here. It’s in a village called Yuhu. We have to go on un-surfaced roads accompanied by ox-carts.

I’m on the road, on the outskirts of Lijiang, which leads up to a little village of ‘Yuhu’, which I am told the right way to pronounce it. That’s where the Austrian born American botanist Joseph Rock, came in 1922, set up home. And he lived here for 27years. Rock became the world famous expert not only on plants of Yunnan, but also the Naxi culture, and in particular the Dongba culture. And it’s largely thanks to him and his work, collections over the time he lived here that we have the understanding or the people here have the understanding of the Naxi culture, the Dongba culture. We just going up to where he lived which is now a museum, a lot of things he had, he used when he was alive were kept as museum relics. So we are going to take a look and see how he lived and what’s in there.

There’s nothing on this road to remind us of this great man, and there’re only a few people around. Villages like this are common in China. There’s no road, only a pathway. On his travels around the country Rock may have used mule trains to carry his food and equipment. His house is a Siheyuan. It’s built of wood and is spacious and simple. We’re welcomed by a Naxi curator.

He Shixian: It was taken in this yard, just here. There is a knot on this pole, and the mark on the stage. These prove it is the house that once was Rock’s. He came in November 1922, and left in August 1949, and stayed here 27 years in total, so we know him well. The Naxi bodyguards were good help to him. At 1949, he returned form Kunming and then left, I was eight years old at that time, and that ’ s the last time I saw him. He stayed here for three nights and then left. All his horses were elected form here and the 8-9 Naxi bodyguards were his assistants in fact.

There are many legends about Rock and I learn about the warmth of Lijiang people from them. In the evening we’re guests of honour at a banquet.

Editor:Hu  Source:CCTV.com