The True Story behind Britain’s Hidden Army of Labour
Introduction
Chinese Whispers; The last time you sat down to a Chinese meal in one of those grand and bustling Chinese restaurants in London’s Chinatown, did you by any chance think about who your waiter was, what had led him to Britain, or what his working conditions might be like?
Have you ever wondered who separated and sorted those impeccable lettuce leaves in your designer bag of mixed fresh salad, or who picked and trimmed those perfect spring onions that you bought from a supposedly respectable high street supermarket? And what about that side salad you got from a world famous fast food outlet?
What has made those pretty faces that appear in local newspapers offering massages and other services, of a more sexual nature, to British ‘gentlemen’, do this kind of work?
These are the questions we don’t like to ask ourselves, we prefer to take it for granted that we can get these products and services at a cheap price.
Hsiao-Hung Pai’s book, ‘Chinese Whispers’, reveals exactly how we get all the above and at what price. The stories of the people involved, which she masterly brings to light, make for uncomfortable reading. Hers is a tale designed to stir our consciousness and provoke anger and indignation. For ‘Chinese Whispers’ is a story of exploitation, shattered dreams and
Hotan is remote. It is one of those end of the world places beyond which begins one of the world’s largest deserts, the Taklamakan, an enormous area of sand dunes and barren rocks forming some of the most hostile terrain on earth. Boiling in summer, freezing in winter, towns like Hotan hang precariously to the desert’s outer ring, hemmed in by the looming Kunlun Mountains that rise up to the Tibetan Plateau. Over the centuries, many other once thriving oasis towns like Hotan have succumbed to the advances of the Taklamakan, and their half hidden remains lie buried in the sand, a poignant testimony to the harshness of the environment.
We first came across the Hani, one of China’s more than 50 ethnic minorities, a few years ago when we had the fortune to spend a number of days in Yuanyang (Yunnan Province link) and the surrounding rice terraces of the fabulous Ailao mountains. Apart from the Hani, the Ailao mountains are home to a number of other minorities such as the Yi, the Yao, or the Miao. However, it was the Hani who were most in evidence in and around Yuanyang, and it was fascinating to watch them going about their daily lives, whether buying and selling in the vibrant markets, strolling around the town square at dusk, tending to their famous rice terraces, or walking back towards their idyllic ‘mushroom’ villages with their farm animals in tow.
Who are the Hani?
The Hani, who number about 1.29 million in China, used to be renowned for being fierce warriors, but these days it is their remarkable farming techniques, especially rice terrace farming, that have made them famous. The finest examples of this spectacular agricultural feat can be seen near Yuanyang.
The Hani are made up of various subgroups – each with its own customs, dress and dialect – which can be found not only in China, but in Laos, Thailand and Myanmar as well. In China, they have settled in southern Yunnan where they have established communities in the prefectures along the Red River (Honghe) and in the Mekong (Langcang) area of Xishuangbanna. They are also found in Pu’er, Jiancheng near Simao, and Yuanjiang county near Yuxi.
The location of their settlements is a result of centuries of migration, due to wars, famines and natural disasters, from the elevated Tibetan lands near the Burmese border. It is therefore no surprise that the Hani speak a language that is related to Tibeto-Burman, and is classified as part of the family of Tibetan languages. However, as opposed to Tibetan or Burmese, no writing system exists for the Hani language.
Clothing
Hani Lady Yuanyang
While Hani men are generally indistinguishable from their Han counterparts, though on festive occasions they often wear black or white turbans, it is the women who continue to wear distinctive ethnic clothing, which varies widely, depending on the region in which they live. Some common traits are heavy silver jewellery, the use of decorative silver coins and a strong liking for black cloth. Other colours worn by the Hani are indigo and petrol-blue, as well as green. If a Hani lady’s headdress is very colourful and decorated, this means that she is single. On the other hand, if her jacket is decorated with silver coins, she is married.
Mushroom Houses
The Hani from around Yuanyang have specialised in building what are popularly known as Mushroom Houses or Mogu Fangzi in Chinese. These are Square adobe structures with slightly pointed thatched roofs.Seen from a distance a Hani village might remind one of a Hobbit’s house from The Lord of the Rings.
Beliefs
Photo From the Yunnan Book on the Hani
The Hani have a variety of gods and wizards who they worship. They hold a number of festivals throughout the yearin order to pay homage to and venerate these spiritual beings. The biggest of these festivals are the Kuzhazha Festival and the Tenth Month Festival. The latter coincides with the first dragon day of the tenth month and is the occasion when you can witness the Hani celebrating their legendary long table banquets. Rather like a British street party. Tables are set out in a long line through the center of the town or village and food and wine are served to all villagers. Singing, dancing, games and general mayhem all follow.
More Information
Anyone who wishes to know more about the Hani should try to see the excellent film “When Rouma was 17”(Rouma de shi qi sui) directed by Zhang Yiarui and starring Shu Linyuan, Li Min, Yang Zhigang.
This sweet and sometimes humorous story is about a young Hani girl, Rouma, facing up to the complexities of modern life that are now penetrating the remote rural area where she lives. Apart from a good impression of Hani lifestyle, the film also provides some great shots of Yuanyang and the surrounding countryside.
We’ll hopefully add more information to this article after our visit this summer (2008) to the Hani areas of Xishuangbanna.
The bar was pretty cool; just a few wooden tables with simple but stylish decoration. We ordered a bottle of dry red wine and savoured the moment as the dark burgundy liquid filled our glasses. We toasted and rejoiced that we had chosen well.
Note: after the fire in the old town of Zhongdian it is very possible that this place doesn’t exist anymore.
Adam
But the best was yet to come. The cheese, beautifully presented and excellently cut, looked as if it had arrived straight from Castilla la Mancha. The fried cheese sticks were scrumptious too.
With a little bit of imagination we could almost feel as if we had been transported to one of those lazy, boozy days kicking back in Spain. But actually we were at 3,200 meters above sea level, not too far from the Tibetan border in the Yunnanese town of Zhongdian. The wine and the cheese where both local products; the latter 100% yak….
About the wine and cheese
The wine was a Tibetan red from the Yunnan Shangeli wine company, while the cheese was the result of an amazing project to produce quality yak cheese in one of China’s remotest areas. The Mei Xiang Cheese Factory http://www.meixiangcheese.com/index.asp
is located in Langdu Village in the Diqin Tibetan Autonomous Region of Yunnan. The area where the yaks graze is a pristine alpine spot 4,500 meters above sea level. So far, the Meixiang Factory has developed two types of cheese: the first, Yage, is a Mediterranean Halloumi type cheese with a soft and mild flavour. The second cheese, which is called Geza Gold, is a creamy full flavoured cheese.
The cheese making project
The cheese making project is a result of the collaboration between local Tibetan herdsmen, families from Langdu village and an assortment of outside help such as CERS (China Exploration & Research Society), a Hong Kong based organisationhttp://www.cers.org.hk/ that claims to be committed to “…helping China’s remote regions and implementing projects to conserve nature and culture, in a sensitive and equitable manner…”,
or Ventures in Development http://www.venturesindev.org/index.asp another organisation which aims to build viable projects in remote areas of China. These organisations have provided technical assistance in the guise of professional American cheese experts from the university of Wisconsin who have gone to Langdu to apply their expertise to the production of yak cheese, especially in the areas of quality control and sanitation. The organisations have also tried to find markets for the cheese products.
When I spoke to the lady running the shop and bar in Zhongdian (Shangrila) she told me that while there was a market for the yak cheese in China’s big cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong, two problems needed to be overcome. Firstly, transportation: Langdu is a remote village and infrastructure still leaves a lot to be desired. Secondly, production: the production capacity at Langdu is still very limited and unable to cope with substantial increases in demand. Until those problems are resolved, Zhongdian’s cheese business is likely to remain small-scale.
Though I wish their seemingly harmless and environmentally-friendly enterprise well, I can see a contradiction here. How do you preserve Langdu’s unspoilt wilderness, while at the same time building the transport infrastructure and production capacity to make the yak cheese business viable? Are the two compatible? A question that those involved in the project will need to work out.
For now though, any visitor to Zhongdian should definitely drop into the Shangri-La wine and cheese shop and sample what’s on offer. Apart from the delicious cheese platter with crackers, there are fried yak cheese sticks, yak cheese burgers, yak cheese club sandwiches and a variety of yak cheese salads. The Address is Zhongdian Old Town, Cang Fang Jie, #22. It is just down the hill from the main square. Wine is by the glass or bottle.
Jiude buqu, xinde bulai (If the old doesn’t go, the new won’t come)
A Melancholy Trip Down Memory Lane
Chengdu 1991
It was February 1991 and we had arrived the night before, after one of those long bus rides from hell, and quickly installed ourselves in the comfortable Traffic Hotel. The weather in Chengdu was cloudy and grey, the sun was never to show its face for the whole week we were there. There was a slight winter chill in the air and we kept expecting it to rain, but it never did. Our first impressions of Chengdu were not overly enthusiastic, it seemed like most other Chinese large cities at that time, drab and featureless. Sterile government buildings lined the main boulevards, a testimony to the worst of Soviet style architecture. However, as we strolled aimlessly around, it quickly became obvious that the real Chengdu was just around the corner. And literally! Diving off a main street into a side ally you would find yourself in the midst of bustling street markets, full of the hustle and bustle of frenetic street trading. Vendors sold everything from black-market jeans and watches, to bags of freshly crushed chillies and pungent pickles. Street artisans plied their ancient trades, from basket weaving to dentistry, and small home industries ground sesame oil or produced vinegar. The smell of kerosene from the impromptu food stalls filled the air. The whole city beyond the main thoroughfares heaved with tremendous vigour. Every street offered something different, enticing the curious traveller to delve in and discover something new.
In the next week a new article will be posted on HolaChina.com Your Gateway to China about the remote Tibetan village of Cizhong in Yunnan province and Tibetan wine.
The area has a tradition of wine making ever since French missionaries came to the region more than 100 years ago. The village of Cizhong also has a beautiful Catholic church built in traditonal and local style.
I’ve never felt comfortable about visiting small villages, only to gawp at the exotic inhabitants. When trekking or walking in the countryside, passing through a remote village can be a rewarding experience and a nice break, but I am always glad to move on, unless I am going to eat there or stay the night. So it was with some conflicting thoughts that we set off to visit the Long Horn Miao.
Below are our thoughts on the visit. For Further information on how to get to the Long Horn Miao villages and how they do their hair go to: HolaChina: Your Gateway to China
Final Reflections
I am not an Anthropologist, my degree is in East-Asian History. So it is difficult for me to pontificate on what should or should not be done about the Long Horn Miao villages. I enjoyed the visit. I took some great photos. The scenery is stunning, the costumes and hair are fantastic and the villagers friendly. Nevertheless, I can’t help wondering what impact tourism will have on their society. Are we, as some of the first tourists, only the shock troops that will pave the way for hordes of well-heeled Chinese and Western tour groups on ‘adventure’ holidays who will commercialise and eventually destroy the Long Horns’ traditional lifestyle? It is something that worries and disturbs me – though I can imagine many of you thinking ‘you shouldn’t have gone then..’.
On the other hand, and looking on the positive side, tourism might help the Long Horn Miao to preserve their culture. By learning to take pride in their ethnic culture and being able to earn a living from it, the exodus of the younger Long Horns to the towns might be halted.
Change is inevitable, and the modern world has already caught up with the Long Horn Miao. The young children go to school in Soga, which is only an hour and a half away from the large town of Liuzhi, which in turn is connected to Anshun and Guizhou’s booming capital, Guiyang.
Dafen is a village surrounded by the thriving metropolis of Shenzhen, and the origin of most of the world’s reproduction oil paintings. In the popular imagination Dafen’s artists produce anonymous works for unknown customers, operating no differently than a faceless factory churning out counterfeits, replicas and nothing close to what would be considered art. … [Link to REGIONAL’s project page]
