Endowed with lofty hills, beautiful pools, exquisite traditional houses and rare plants, Yunnan Nationalities Village, aka Yunnan Ethnic Village, showcases the architectural styles, religious beliefs, and folk customs of 26 ethnic groups in exquisite detail. Backing on the Western Hill Forest Park and adjacent to Dianchi Lake, a pearl on Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the village is 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) far from downtown Kunming. It covers an area of 84 hectares (208 acres), including 31 hectares (76 acres) of water area.
Guide Map of Yunnan Nationalities Village
Guide Map of Yunnan Nationalities Village
At the main gate hangs a plaque inscribed with five Chinese characters, Yun Nan Min Zu Cun, saying Yunnan Nationalities Village or Yunnan Ethnic Village. A logo of a flying golden phoenix is right below the plaque, symbolizing good wishes to the village. On the lawn near the gate is a group of white elephant statues, as it is a custom here to welcome distinguished guests with elephants.
Yunnan Nationalities Village
Beautiful Ladies in Yunnan Nationalities Village
After entering, the first site coming into view is the Dai Village. Occupying 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres), the village is surrounded with water on three sides. Bamboo houses built on stilts are shaded with trees and flowers. A meandering path paved with red sandstones leads to a sacred Burmese-style temple. The lofty white tower, exquisite pavilions and bridges are very impressive. As a nationality loving singing and dancing, Dai People are proud of their peacock dance and music played on cucurbit flutes, which perfectly match each other.
In the west of Harmony Square is the Yi Nationality village. It covers more than 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres). Since Yi People show respect to tigers, you can see a tiger rockery as well as a wall engraved with three tigers. A giant totem column is erected in the center of the magnificent Solar Calendar Square. Carved on the column are patterns of the sun, fire, tigers and the Eight Trigrams of ancient China. Around the column, there are ten black and white stone spheres facing different directions, symbolizing that life originates from the sun and the moon. The twelve lifelike carvings of Chinese zodiac animals on the peripheral add a lot of fun to the village. The distilleries, bullrings, and Mo Qiu, which is similar to a seesaw, represent authentic Yi culture.
As the largest village in this scenic spot, Bai Village is famous for its traditional dwellings which integrate Han People's architectural strengths with its own. The three white towers, built in a scale of 1:4 to reproduce the Three Pagodas in Dali, will definitely catch your eyes. The butterfly specimens on exhibition are also quite attractive and will remind visitors of the Butterfly Spring. If you get thirsty during the visit, you will have an opportunity to partake in a unique tea-related tradition of Bai Nationality, San Dao Cha, meaning being served with three cups of tea. The first cup is bitter, the second is sweet and the third mingles different tastes, reflecting Bai People’s philosophy. They think one should undergo hard times first and then seek a better life. After experiencing ups and downs, one will get various feelings about life.
Yunnan Nationalities Village
Attracting Dance by Local Ethnic Girls
Besides the three villages, there are other interesting spots worth viewing, such as Miao, Mosuo, Yao and Naxi Villages. Every village has its unique and mysterious culture, attracting many cultural explorers. There is also a Tea Culture View Garden inside the park, where you can learn something about Chinese tea culture.
In addition to visiting the various villages, you can enjoy some amusement activities, like the elephant show, water screen films, ethnic cabarets and the folk show The Call of the Plateau. Besides, if it happens to be a festival of the nationalities, such as the Water-Splashing Festival (April 13 to 16) of Dai People, Torch Festival (June 24 in the lunar calendar) of Yi People, the Tibetan New Year (January 1st in the Tibetan calendar) and so on, you can join the locals to learn about the customs and prepare for a lot of fun.
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