Shy townsfolk introduce an isolated enclave to the world
Wangxia, a mountain-locked town in the Changjiang Li autonomous county in Hainan province, is becoming a cyber celebrity destination as ecotourism development unveils the special charms of local resources and the Li culture.
A five-hour drive southwest of Haikou, the provincial capital at the northern tip of Hainan Island, Wangxia is located in the hinterland of the 4,905foot Bawangling Mountain, a national nature reserve and believed to be the earliest place of residence of the Li people, the original inhabitants of the tropical island.
Having moved from the southern Chinese mainland more than 3,000 years ago, the Hainan Li people, now numbering about 1.49 million, are distinct with a diverse culture including totem worship of animals and plants, lowthatched cottages in inverted boat shapes and the colorful Li brocades, known as a “living fossils” in China’s textile history. The Li brocades are listed as a United Nations intangible cultural heritage, the Changjiang Culture Center said.
“We were enchanted by the folk songs and dancing performances as soon as we entered Sanpai, a village with 1,230 residents,” said Hou Jun, a young tourist from Shanxi province. “I was deeply moved by the lively and beautiful wall paintings on the Li people’s houses that show the traditional lifestyles and legends. It was an enlightening visit.”
The Changjiang county government has developed a cultural tourism project called Lihuali that highlights the immersive experience of Li culture, its original ecological attractions and ancient human inheritance.
“We are turning the Li villagers’ lifestyles into tourism products and transforming their living environment into special scenery to produce a unique feeling of cultural nostalgia,” said Lin Qing, a local official and general planner of the Lihuali project.
During his two hiking visits to Wangxia nearly 90 years ago, the German ethnologist and anthropologist Hans Stubel (1885-1961) was amazed by the lush landscape, species, historical remains, religion and colorful lifestyles of the joyous and musical
Li people. Anthropologists regard his book, Ethnography ofHainanIsland, as a key to the research and study of the Li ethnic group.
Its remote location has kept life in Wangxia backward for centuries, said township officials.
“Since 2011 the county government has invested tens of millions of yuan to build roads, drinking water pipelines, sewage treatment projects and other network infrastructure
such as communication optical cables that now cover all villages in Wangxia,” said Yang Ronghui, head of the township, which has 3,248 residents.
The average per capita annual income of the 1,129 poverty-stricken villagers rose to 10,470 yuan ($1,500) last year from 3,104 yuan in 2013, Yang said.
“The villagers have begun playing multiple roles,” Yang said. “When tourists come, they are performers of Li songs and dances, chefs of Li dishes, part-time housekeepers of Li homestays, or sellers of handicrafts and farm produce such as cowhide stools, Li brocades, rattan weaving and millet pepper.”
Liu Guifang, a Li villager, said her people were once shy when it came to interacting with outsiders.
“We didn’t have the courage to say we were from Wangxia town because it was so poor.
“If one unfortunately got seriously ill, the family had to pay their neighbors a lot of money to help take the sick person to the hospital down narrow zigzagging mountain trails. The amount that had to be paid was determined by the body weight of the sick person, and usually the price was about 10 yuan for each kilogram (2.2 pounds).”
Fu Jianxiong, once a povertystricken farmer, reaped more than 50,000 yuan last year.
“With good roads and online shops so easy to manage at home, we no longer worry about sales of our products. Our farm produce used to rot in the fields because there were no roads,” he said.