Prior to the Year of the Horse, Shaoguan's Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County was filled with the festive atmosphere of the Chinese New Year. Yasmeen Saeed, a Pakistani teacher from Shaoguan University, together with reporter of Nanfang News Network, embarked on a tour to celebrate Spring Festival with the Yao people.
From February 1 to March 3, Ruyuan will host more than 20 Spring Festival events at Guoshan (Cross-Mountain) Yao Scenic Park, offering a rich feast of Yao culture for visitors.
Encountering the splendid traditions of Yao people
Stepping into Yuandian Ethnic Costume Studio, Yasmeen couldn't wait to put on a traditional Yao costume, and she fell in love with the exquisite Yao embroidery patterns at first sight. "I feel I'm a princess!" she exclaimed.
Deng Liping, the county-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Ruyuan Yao Costumes, explained the secret of the patterns on the costume to her, "This costume integrates unique Yao embroidered totems, including eight-pointed flowers, deer patterns, and so on, combining human figures, animals and plants."
Deng Liping (L), introduces the patterns of Yao ethnic clothing.
Founded five years ago, Deng Liping's Yuandian Ethnic Costume Studio mainly serves Yao people and tourists who love Yao culture. It has become a trendy way for tourists to put on a set of traditional Yao costumes and go sightseeing around Ruyuan to feel the authentic flavor of the Yao Village.
"The Yao people have no written language, and their culture is passed down orally. Our heritage is expressed in every stitch and thread of Yao embroidery," Deng said. During the Spring Festival, every Yao family will dress in their finest clothes. Today, Yao embroidery is also made into daily necessities such as handbags, sachets and baby hats.
The hospitable and artistic Yao people have their own ways to welcome guests from afar. At the World Guoshan Yao Scenic Park, Yasmeen learned the Fangu dance, a highly representative dance of the Ruyuan Yao people, from dancer Peng Yanling. Peng introduced the dance and taught her how to dance, "hold the middle of the drum with your left hand, beat drum with your right hand, and you can also twirl the drum."
Peng Yanling (L) invites Yasmeen to learn the dance of Yao people.
Yasmeen practiced earnestly from hand movements to foot coordination. Peng gave her careful guidance, "For the footwork, alternate left and right—lift your left foot a little, then bring your right foot back, and beat the drum in sync with lifting your foot." Under Peng's guide, Yasmeen slowly found the rhythm following the drumbeat and completed the whole set of basic movements. Peng introduced that during grand festivals such as the "October Festival" (Panwang Worship Ritual) and the Spring Festival, or when distinguished guests visit, the Yao people will present singing and dancing performances.
A bite of Chinese New Year of Yao people
Upon taking a seat at the long table banquet, Yasmeen wowed, "This looks extremely special. Everything is what I haven't met before."
Pan Yangyu, Deputy Director of the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, introduced that the long table banquet of Yao people is held for festivals, holidays or big celebrations in a lively atmosphere, the dishes on the table include both traditional Yao dishes and Hakka dishes, reflecting the beautiful scene of unity and integration between the Yao and Han people through the food.
Faced with the full table of delicious food, Yasmeen was in a dilemma, "For me, everything looks so delicious that I don't know what to choose first."
If you come to Ruyuan, you cannot miss out the local beancurd sticks. Pan introduced that it is a specialty of Dabu Town in Ruyuan, handmade by local villagers with soybeans they grow themselves and mountain spring water. Located in a high-altitude area with a big temperature difference between day and night, Dabu Town produces higher-quality soybeans.
After the beancurd sticks were boiled soft in the delicious chicken soup, Yasmeen took a sip and commented, "It has a smooth and fresh taste, with the natural aroma of local ingredients. This is my first time tasting it, and the flavor is amazing!"
Yasmeen tastes chicken soup.
The chicken pot is also a signature dish of the long table banquet. Pan said that this dish uses local Chinese herbal medicines from the Yao Village and free-range chickens raised by local families. Yasmeen drank the sweet and fresh chicken soup, saying, "The aroma and the spices are perfectly made. I can really feel the aroma of all the spices and the chicken is really so fresh."
Fried glutinous rice cakes are a classic snack for the Yao New Year. Pan introduced that making glutinous rice cakes is quite exquisite: the glutinous rice needs to be soaked for 4 hours and then steamed for 1 hour, and can be eaten with white sugar after frying. After tasting it, Yasmeen smiled, "The glutinous rice cake looks great and has an especially soft and glutinous taste." Other special dishes at the banquet, such as herbal goose meat and steamed reservoir fish, all won her praise.
Watching the lively scene of people sitting around the table eating together, Yasmeen said, "This is how the Yao people celebrate the new year! Sitting together, you can feel the warmth of being with each other, and this is the most precious flavor of the new year." The ingredients of the Yao Village are all locally sourced, and every bite contains the life wisdom of the Yao people.
The Yao people also have the traditional custom of "Gaonian" (new year ancestor worship). "The elder generation will go back to their hometown to burn incense, tell their ancestors that the new year is coming, the whole family is safe and well in the past year, and pray for good weather and a bumper harvest in the coming year," Pan said. The memorial ceremony of worshipping Panwang on the first day of the Lunar New Year is the highlight of the Yao New Year. All Yao people will attend in their finest clothes, and there will also be traditional dance performances.
Knowing this tradition, Yasmeen couldn't help thinking that the Yao New Year customs hide the reverence for ancestors and beautiful expectations for life, which also let her understand the warmth behind the flavor of the new year.
Sharing Yao specialties with the world
After tasting the delicious food of the Yao Village, Yasmeen walked into the live streaming room and recommended local specialties of the Yao Village to netizens together with the host Baolian, sharing the festive flavor with more people.
As soon as she saw the dried beancurd sticks in the live stream, Yasmeen's eyes lit up, "This is what we had for lunch; it's so delicious!"
Baolian first introduced the "Three Treasures of Ruyuan", namely dried beancurd sticks, bamboo shoots and sweet potatoes, which are also the most beloved local specialties of the Ruyuan people.
Specialities and Yao embroidery cultural products of Ruyuan
"The dried beancurd sticks are in whole pieces with the natural luster of soybeans, and the ingredient list only includes soybeans and mountain spring water. The dried sweet potatoes are steamed and dried three times without any additives or extra sugar, with a natural sweet and glutinous taste. The dried bamboo shoots are golden yellow and only available in winter, making them a perfect gift for the new year when packed in gift boxes," Baolian introduced while opening the products to show them. Yasmeen tasted the dried sweet potatoes and commented, "I really feel that it is incredibly sweet, delicious and quite chewy."
In addition to the "Three Treasures of Ruyuan", long-grain glutinous rice, tea leaves and Yao cultural products are also popular new year goods. "The medicine hammer is embroidered with big lotus flowers and eight-pointed flowers, and both Yao embroidery and the Yao medicine inside are intangible cultural heritage," Baolian introduced.
Since the Yao people had no written language, they used patterns to record and spread information in ancient times. The big lotus flower symbolizes happiness and completeness, and the eight-pointed flower represents smooth going and peace in all directions. Every stitch and thread hides the blessings of the craftsperson."
Baolian (L) and Yasmeen introduce products from Ruyuan.
Yasmeen felt that these patterns are not just decorations, but also a unique language for the Yao people to express their emotions and communicate with each other, carrying a profound historical heritage, which is well worth sharing with the world.
At the end of the happy and short experience tour in Ruyuan, Yasmeen had an unforgettable day, "We have a very traditional culture, introduce everything about the authentic, delicious food of Ruyuan and very warm, welcoming people. It really feels like a vibe and charm of Chinese New Year."
Chief Planner: Zhang Chunqing
Coordinator: Li Lin
Executive Producers: Shen Chen, Yin Juewen
Reporter: Zhou Hongdou
Video: Zhang Qida
Poster: Wu Junli
Proofreader: Lai Yuqing