Cui Zengqi: Yunnan trip (4)

Cui Zengqi: Yunnan trip (4) Dali is a place I have admired for a long time. When I was in my twenties, the blockbuster movie "Five Golden Flowers"...

Dali is a place I have admired for a long time. When I was in my twenties, the blockbuster movie "Five Golden Flowers" once intoxicated us in the wonderful realm of "the beautiful scenery of Dali in March" and "the strong affection of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake". The scene of men and women singing in duet and running into the forest to fall in love freely is so fascinating. Now, I am standing on this land, enjoying the wind blowing from Xiaguan, admiring the beautiful flowers in Shangguan, looking at the floating clouds on Cangshan Mountain in the distance, and looking down at the swaying moonlight of Erhai Lake. Fifty years later, I have also come to this paradise on earth. The journey from Lijiang to Dali is only two and a half hours by car. But due to the different customs of ethnic minorities, you will have completely different feelings. Dali is the capital of the Bai Autonomous Region. Just like their name, the girls here have beautiful skin. White, both men and women like white tops, most residential buildings have white walls, and young girls are called "Jin". The golden flowers seen here are indeed very beautiful, standing gracefully beside the white marble doorposts, which looks particularly charming. The Bai girls and young people performed a national wedding for us, and we tasted the "three cups of tea" that the Bai people treat guests, which is known as one bitter, two sweet and three times. The first cup is a pure strong tea with a slightly bitter taste, the second cup is a light tea with honey and peppercorns, and it has a bitter and sweet taste in the mouth. These three cups of tea reflect an important philosophy in life: only those who have experienced hardship can better appreciate the taste of sweetness, but when you enjoy it, In the time of sweet life, we still have to recall the past.

The performance of the Bai golden flowers

Dali is rich in marble, which is a kind of gray and white metamorphic rock formed under high temperature and high pressure underground. It is an important decorative stone for construction, with more than 50 million tons used worldwide every year. In my imagination, the mountains and plains here must be full of quarries. Unexpectedly, I saw lush hillsides along the way. On the one hand, it shows that Dali attaches great importance to protecting ecological resources. On the other hand, I also learned that marble is only named after Dali. Marble is produced in thirty provinces in China, and the world's marble production ranks first in Europe, accounting for about 70% of the total output. The Bai people are proud that Yang Liping, a famous dancer, was born here. People here will tell you many stories about Yang Liping, as if everyone is her relative and friend. Yang Liping lived in poverty when she was young, but she was naturally beautiful and intelligent, and lived in Bai, where she loved dancing. Among the tribe members, she danced with the adults since she was a child, and she showed some aura in her movements. She joined the Xishuangbanna Song and Dance Troupe at the age of thirteen. After eight years of accumulation in rural performances, she was selected to join the Central Song and Dance Troupe at the age of 21. She had a special persistence in dancing. She worked hard in her bedroom to practice basic skills and created and rehearsed the "Peacock Dance". She financed the video to participate in the national dance competition and finally succeeded. People praised her dedication to art because this story happened in 1986. At that time, Yang Liping's monthly salary was only more than 100 yuan, but she had to invest 1,000 yuan. How much courage and perseverance it took to choreograph this dance for more than 700 yuan, equivalent to more than a year's salary! After the success of the performance, she became famous at the Spring Festival Gala and performed in many countries around the world, but she never left the land where she grew up. She is still a native golden flower of the people. She constantly draws new nutrients from the dances of Yunnan ethnic minorities, creating new dances such as "Yunnan Impression" and "Sparrow Love", forming a unique original dance posture, which is perfectly interpreted with the language of the body. She reflects the beauty of the soul of nature and the true feelings of love. The living environment of her childhood formed her independent and unique behavioral style. She is also very realistic about love and marriage. I really appreciate what she said: What would it be like if Romeo and Juliet lived together every day? During the trip, I was deeply impressed by the progress of public toilets in China. In the past, the most troublesome thing for foreigners when traveling in China was the difficulty of going to the toilet. There were few public toilets and the sanitary conditions were not good. Nowadays, public toilets with sanitary facilities have been built in all cities and towns. The high-altitude bombing and strafing cesspits of the past no longer exist. In remote Yunnan Province, I actually saw some very creative toilets. Some of them placed a small color TV in front of each urinal, and you could pay attention to national affairs and watch World Cup games while peeing. It was so exciting that you couldn't bear to leave, but it seemed a bit disrespectful when you encountered the activities of national leaders.