DAZZLING DAYAOSHAN PART 1

Ricefields nestling beneath Dayaoshan mountains.

"The lofty peaks are crowned with smoky clouds,

In the forests centenarian trees endure."

is how one local verse describes the range of mysterious mountains and forests located in South China's Guangxi Province. Known as the Dayaoshan, it is a chain of mountains in the 2,000-3000metre range. Its verdant slopes which are hidden all year round by fog and mist, are the home of the gentle Yao minority group.

In Guangxi Province, there are 30 different branches of the Yao minority group. Within the Dayaoshan mountains there are five different branches - the Chashan Yao, Ao Yao, Pan Yao, Hualan Yao and the Shanzi Yao. Each branch of the Yao is differentiated by their head-dress.

The Cha Shan Yao, for instance, wear hats embellished with metal bands, while the Pan Yao wear circular hats. The Yaos of Dayaoshan have been mountain-loving woodlanders for many generations, living peaceably in their abodes, not unlike elves and gnomes in some green glen.

To visit the Yaos in their mountain fastness, we headed for the town of Liuzhou which is 140km from Jinxiu, the chief town in the Yao Autonomous County where the Yao people live and where the Dayaoshan mountains are located.

ROAD TO JINXIU

Land of Peach Blossoms

China is a land of superlatives where scenery is concerned, and the drive to Jinxiu certainly opened our eyes to its rustic beauty. We marvelled at how changeless China's rural areas have remained. The countryside seemed to be wrapped in sonorous slumber as we drove past lush valleys, redolent with pastoral tranquillity.

Timeless China

Flashing by our windsreeen, we caught sight of clusters of white-washed or beige, mud-walled farmhouses, black-tiled,with red couplets on wooden doors. In the fields, cows were grazing, farmers hoeing, ruddy-cheeked womenfolk with headscarves working, with babies strapped to their backs; peasants heaving stacks of grain, laying out bunches of hay for winter and piling wood by doorways. They worked on neat vegetable plots, fields of padi,sugar cane and bamboo groves. In the distance the brooding limestone cliffs of Guangxi enfolded the fields and valleys in warm embrace.

Sharing our country road were jiggling little pony carts, men leading bullocks, women hoisting bamboo baskets and schoolboys running pellmell to village schools. The rich produce of the land, mandarin oranges, pomelos and sugar cane were spilling from orchards and farms on to country roads as enterprising peasants set up makeshift stalls to sell their surplus harvest.

In this region of abundance, we were greeted on every side with smiles and greetings and warm salutations. Perhaps, we were plain lucky,or it was a temporary illusion, but here in the heart of Guangxi, we seemed to have stumbled onto that fabled Land of Peach Blossoms where people lead charmed lives.

Abundant warmth!

Abundant harvest!

DAZZLING DAYAOSHAN

Part 2
JINXIU

When we were within 53km of Jinxiu, the road began to climb as we ascended Dayaoshan. Jinxiu's town centre, made up of one solitary street is a sleepy hollow. It also doubles up as the local market. We were fascinated by a stall selling dried rats as a local delicacy and intriqued by another displaying an unending row of herbs. According to official records, 2,300 different kinds of plants are found in this region.The Yaos are remarkably friendly and are quite ready to stop for a chat or offer a cup of tea. While minding their stalls, some knit, sew or do hand embroidery. Although most of the womenfolk wear trousers and Chinese jackets, the peculiar hats they don mark their Yao ancestry.

A Yao doctor with her array of herbs

At Jinxiu we checked into a newly built local hotel, a smallish affair of five storeys.We had to trudge with our luggage up to the fourth floor as the building had no lift. The double room was minuscule and once all our bags were inside, we couldn't move around without stepping on them. We were not complaining,however, as the price was only something like S$15 and it came with a flush toilet and shower. From our windows we could also see the sunset over the distant hills. The Karoke, located just above our bedroom, was another matter. It effectively prevented us from getting a good night's sleep.

As it gets chilly at Jinxiu in the evenings we were invited to a dinner of dog meat which, the Chinese believe, can keep the body warm. Of course, we demurred but our guide and driver decided to accept the challenge. We sat at separate tables where we whey-faced Singaporeans, ate from a dogless menu while our gusty China friends tucked into man's best friend. Eating dog meat we observed was also accompanied by the revelry of finger-guessing games followed by rounds of wine drinking.

YAO VILLAGES

Jinxiu is a good base to outlying Yao villages. The first we visited was Meng Chun(Dream Village)which is 8km from the town centre. Situated on a hill it gives a lovely outlook of ricefields nestling in the valley bed beneath the folds of the Dayaoshan Mountains. Life must be hard in this village,which still follows traditional methods of farming, but I was moved to observe the blithe insouciance among the robust peasantry as they husked and sieved their grain.

Yao lass

Further south, is the Min Su Chun (People's Village) which represents a typical Yao community. The villages are built straggling up a slope and the whole village is linked by a network of rocky alleys, lanes and paths. A hog snorts nasally as our clatter disturbs its noonday lethargy.Most households in this village rear a pig, not for sale but for consumption as, according to Yao customs, a pig must be slaughtered for the Lunar New Year celebrations. The meat that is left over from the festivities is then smoked or salted and can be kept and eaten for the remainder of the year.
The houses in this village are flamboyant and decorative which is, perhaps, reflective of the Yao's personality and lifestyle. Each house has a flight of flagstone steps leading up to an eye-catching gate, painted in gorgeous hues depicting motifs of flowers, birds, insects or fish.

Min Su Chun Village House

OLD MOUNTAINS

The Old Mountains, which is part of the Dayaoshan range, is located 16 km from Jinxiu. Our mini van was put to the test as it slogged up a narrow, ungravelled road, grinding past lonely,wooded ravines. To our disappointment, the mountains were thickly shrouded in mist,which seemed to get thicker as we gained height. At one stetch, we could barely see within 50 metres and the condensation on the windscreen was so bad that our guide had to constantly wipe it with a cloth. We were literally driving through a sea of clouds which made the journey suddenly dangerous. Just as we were despairing of getting any good view, our van shot through the cloud path and we were in bright sunshine. With fleecy clouds floating on the valleys below and the sky an incandescent blue above, we could make out the thread-like footpaths used by the Yaos to reach their sequestered mountain homes.

Thread like paths used by the Yaos

HOLIDAY STOCKADE VILLAGE

In the same vicinity as the Old Mountains is the Yao Zai Du Jia Chun (Holiday Stockade Village) which has been recently developed. Reaching this hideaway entailed a half-hour trek
uphill and down dale. The Holiday Stockade attempts to recreate the ambience of a Yao stronghold which is hidden and secluded deep in the dappled forest glades.

Screened by fragrant trees, with Yao-styled wooden cabins which are built on stilts and set into the verdant slopes, the Stockade exudes that back-to-the woods feeling. Each cabin
contains a double bed and costs about S$10 per night.
When we arrived, chickens squawking and clucking, were running wild while a Yao lass, armed with a net, panted up and down trying to catch one for our group's lunch. The Stockade does not have running water but hollow bamboo rods, laid on the hill slopes, act as pipes to lead water down from flowing mountain streams. The sound of mountain water rushing through the bamboo rods fills the whole Stockade with its own piped-in music.
Besides exploring the surrounding pristine forests, nature buffs who stay at the Stockade may go on hunting trips, track down a river for a spot of fishing or simply enjoy crabbing at some secret pond. In a clearing at a lower level of the Stockade are massage cabins built of bamboo. Inside each dark cabin is a bamboo bed where patrons needing treatment are tended to with soothing Yao herbs. Presumably, such treatment is a much needed luxury after the rigours of romping through the Dayaoshan range. A 45 minute massage would cost aboutS$8.

SILVER CHINA FIR RESERVE

Our last stop was the Yin Sha (Silver China Fir) Forest Reserve nearby. The Reserve, stretching over eight kms, was specially set up to protect the Yin Sha Tree (Silver China Fir), which is considered one of the world's rare endangered species. The underside of the Yin Sha leaves are streaked with silver and when a breeze rustles through the forest, the leaves shimmer with a silvery glow. The Chinese equate the rarity of the Yin Sha with that of the Panda and four full-time foresters are engaged to look after the Reserve.
According to scientific research, Yin Sha trees flourished in Europe, 300 million years ago, where their fossil remains can still be found. In the Dayaoshan Reserve, there are Yin Sha trees of all ages. In fact,like a Chinese household, five generations of the Yin Sha trees live under one forest roof. One patriach,known as the king of the Yin Shas measures 30m high and is 490 years old. We could almost smell a primeval nip in the air as we walked in the company of these grand old centenarians or "living fossils", and heard water gurgling eternally over rocks in ancient streams.

In a volatile and changing world, the Yaos and the Yin Shas impressed us with their immutability. As we left the Reserve, we prayed that the Dayaoshan Mountains would remain their sanctuary for many more aeons.