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A little slice of heaven in E'shan
By Xu Wenwen |
December 26, 2011, Monday
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TRAVELERS looking for something a little different may be enticed by E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town. The area boasts some great mountain scenery, tasty local cuisine and interesting customs. Xu Wenwen takes a look around.
E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town in Tonglu, the only minority region in Hangzhou, is a rustic tourism destination with an ethnic feel, as well wonderful scenery.
The She minority is one of 55 minority groups in China. Together the minority groups account for more than 8 percent of the country's population.
The She minority people are not native to Zhejiang. They settled in the province's south and in mountainous areas near the Yangtze River after leaving their homeland in northern Fujian Province about 500 years ago.
She people speak the She language, which does not have characters, and Mandarin. In old times, She women wore clothes with flowers and embroidery. Sometimes they coil their hair and tie it with red wool thread.
Today, more than 2,700 She people live in E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town, making up about 30 percent of the population.
Nowadays they only wear traditional clothing for holidays.
E'shan Town is nestled among lush mountains and is thus known for its picturesque scenery. In recent years, the local government has been developing the tourism industry around She minority culture and customs.
Panlong Village inside the town is the first place being developed for tourism. Set in a valley that boasts giant stones, tranquil streams and lush vegetation, the village's name will be changed to She Mountain Village. The area will formally open to tourists next spring.
At the entrance of the village, a number of villas scattering along the stream will be built into luxury hotels, while a bunch of cabins will serve as a youth hostel.
The cabins and villas may look rustic outside, but they are well equipped inside, and they are expected to open when She Mountain Village is ready.
She culture is highlighted in the valley. There are a She ancestor sculpture at the entrance, some large stones drawn with She-style facial makeup and two halls explaining She people's medicine and history.
There's also a stage above a stream, which will be used to perform both the stool-and-stick dance and the bamboo pole dance. Women dance with a stick while men do She minority kungfu with a stool. For the bamboo pole dance, people lay bamboo poles across each other and dance among them.
Zhongmen Village next to Panlong Village is home to phyllostachys prominens, a species of bamboo known for being tall and slender.
The best season to visit the valley is spring, when lots of photographers come as yellow rape flowers and flame-like azaleas spread across the mountains.
The third day of the third month on the Chinese lunar calendar is She people's biggest festival. They worship their ancestors on this day. It also includes a lot of dancing and drinking Hongqu wine, a local alcohol.
Most people in the town are involved in the agriculture industry with rice, sweet potatoes and rapeseed. Bamboo is also an important commercial commodity in Tonglu.
Local specialties include Longxu vermicelli, which is made from sweet potato, Hongqu wine and spring water from the mountains.
Hongqu wine has a low alcohol content and is a little sweet with a nice aroma from the fermented rice. It is believed to be good for promoting blood circulation. It is always heated before serving.
With Chinese New Year coming, every She household will be making Longxu vermicelli, Hongqu wine and rice cakes. All three can be ordered in local restaurants.
Gamey meats such as boar and wild goat along with partridge are also recommended in the mountainous district.
While in Tonglu, most tourists also stop to check out Yaolin Fairyland, a 30-minute-drive from either E'shan or Tonglu.
Listed as one of the country's top 40 tourist attractions, the fairyland is actually a series of limestone caves that formed around 350,000 years ago. They are famous for their stalactites and stalagmites.
With numerous beautiful rocks and stones inside, the cave is full of wonderful shapes and magnificent spectacles, some of them are grand while others are more subtle. The calcium salt formations are lit up in a variety of colors to enhance the visual effect.
There are nine caves at Yaolin Fairyland and they are connected with each other. There is a 1-kilometer tourist route through the caves.
How to get there:
By car: Hangzhou-Qiandao Lake Expressway - Tonglu Exit - Yingchunnan Road (in urban Tonglu) - follow the road signs to Hengcun Village - E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town
By bus: Take a bus to Tonglu, and take a taxi to E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town, the taxi fare is about 40 yuan.
Tip:
Camera lenses get covered with condensation in Yaolin Fairyland because of the temperature difference, so bring some soft tissue or cloth to remove the water vapor.
E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town in Tonglu, the only minority region in Hangzhou, is a rustic tourism destination with an ethnic feel, as well wonderful scenery.
The She minority is one of 55 minority groups in China. Together the minority groups account for more than 8 percent of the country's population.
The She minority people are not native to Zhejiang. They settled in the province's south and in mountainous areas near the Yangtze River after leaving their homeland in northern Fujian Province about 500 years ago.
She people speak the She language, which does not have characters, and Mandarin. In old times, She women wore clothes with flowers and embroidery. Sometimes they coil their hair and tie it with red wool thread.
Today, more than 2,700 She people live in E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town, making up about 30 percent of the population.
Nowadays they only wear traditional clothing for holidays.
E'shan Town is nestled among lush mountains and is thus known for its picturesque scenery. In recent years, the local government has been developing the tourism industry around She minority culture and customs.
Panlong Village inside the town is the first place being developed for tourism. Set in a valley that boasts giant stones, tranquil streams and lush vegetation, the village's name will be changed to She Mountain Village. The area will formally open to tourists next spring.
At the entrance of the village, a number of villas scattering along the stream will be built into luxury hotels, while a bunch of cabins will serve as a youth hostel.
The cabins and villas may look rustic outside, but they are well equipped inside, and they are expected to open when She Mountain Village is ready.
She culture is highlighted in the valley. There are a She ancestor sculpture at the entrance, some large stones drawn with She-style facial makeup and two halls explaining She people's medicine and history.
There's also a stage above a stream, which will be used to perform both the stool-and-stick dance and the bamboo pole dance. Women dance with a stick while men do She minority kungfu with a stool. For the bamboo pole dance, people lay bamboo poles across each other and dance among them.
Zhongmen Village next to Panlong Village is home to phyllostachys prominens, a species of bamboo known for being tall and slender.
The best season to visit the valley is spring, when lots of photographers come as yellow rape flowers and flame-like azaleas spread across the mountains.
The third day of the third month on the Chinese lunar calendar is She people's biggest festival. They worship their ancestors on this day. It also includes a lot of dancing and drinking Hongqu wine, a local alcohol.
Most people in the town are involved in the agriculture industry with rice, sweet potatoes and rapeseed. Bamboo is also an important commercial commodity in Tonglu.
Local specialties include Longxu vermicelli, which is made from sweet potato, Hongqu wine and spring water from the mountains.
Hongqu wine has a low alcohol content and is a little sweet with a nice aroma from the fermented rice. It is believed to be good for promoting blood circulation. It is always heated before serving.
With Chinese New Year coming, every She household will be making Longxu vermicelli, Hongqu wine and rice cakes. All three can be ordered in local restaurants.
Gamey meats such as boar and wild goat along with partridge are also recommended in the mountainous district.
While in Tonglu, most tourists also stop to check out Yaolin Fairyland, a 30-minute-drive from either E'shan or Tonglu.
Listed as one of the country's top 40 tourist attractions, the fairyland is actually a series of limestone caves that formed around 350,000 years ago. They are famous for their stalactites and stalagmites.
With numerous beautiful rocks and stones inside, the cave is full of wonderful shapes and magnificent spectacles, some of them are grand while others are more subtle. The calcium salt formations are lit up in a variety of colors to enhance the visual effect.
There are nine caves at Yaolin Fairyland and they are connected with each other. There is a 1-kilometer tourist route through the caves.
How to get there:
By car: Hangzhou-Qiandao Lake Expressway - Tonglu Exit - Yingchunnan Road (in urban Tonglu) - follow the road signs to Hengcun Village - E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town
By bus: Take a bus to Tonglu, and take a taxi to E'shan She Ethnic Minority Town, the taxi fare is about 40 yuan.
Tip:
Camera lenses get covered with condensation in Yaolin Fairyland because of the temperature difference, so bring some soft tissue or cloth to remove the water vapor.
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