Laomeng Sunday Market

Enjoy these photos taken at Laomeng Market August 2oo6. If you have been recently, tells us how it has changed.

Laomeng Sunday Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan: Five minorities at One Market
Click here to see the photo video with music: https://youtu.be/H0NaaHfpLaA
Laomeng Sunday Market 老勐 市场
aomeng Market 老勐 市场

(Yunnan Province)

Five minorities at One Market

Laomeng Sunday Market, five minorities at One Market, that is what we were promised. The hotel owner in Yuanyang had told us to get there early, as many of the hill tribe people have to walk all the way back and the market starts breaking up at around noon.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Laomeng Sunday Market: Arrival

So we got to Laomeng at about 8.30, where we were among the first to arrive. We walked once round the town and had a look at the few stalls already set up by a small number of colourfully dressed Miao ladies and some older Yi women.

Yao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Most of them seemed as curious about us, as we were about them. By the time we got back  to our starting point, dozens of vans, carts and other vehicles had already arrived, unloading hundreds of passengers and all kinds of goods.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

They brought with them a kaleidoscopic mix of colours, as ladies from the Hani, Yao, Yi, Miao and Black Thai ethnic groups spilled out from the back and descended upon the market for a few hours of frenzied buying and selling.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

For the next 3 hours we were treated to a visual feast that left us drained and out of film. Our driver had filled us in on some of the intricacies of the local costumes, so we were more or less able to distinguish between the women from the different ethnic groups. However, The men on the other hand were fairly indistinguishable, wearing pretty much the same peasant clothes and large wide-brimmed hats.

The Miao 苗族 at Laomeng Sunday Market

miao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Firstly, the Miao. The most colourful group are the Miao. The women of this ethnic group wear short, pleated skirts in electrifying colours such as bright orange, turquoise, yellow, pink or neon green.

miao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
苗族Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The skirts are held in place by tight, embroidered belts and further embellished by lavishly decorated aprons, worn at the back (to protect their clothes when they are carrying loads, or sitting down on their haunches).

Miao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Their lower legs are covered by leggings, usually black, although the trendiest young ladies can wear coloured ones, adorned with dangling pieces of silver, or coins. Their outfits are completed by a final, embroidered strip of cloth, wound around the head as a kind of turban, peaking at the front.

miao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Miao with different style hats Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Given the vibrant nature of their attire, it isn’t surprising that their Vietnamese relations are known as the Flower Hmong. 

The Yao 瑶族 at Laomeng Sunday Market

Yao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan

Secondly, the Yao. In stark contrast with the Miao, the Yao are probably the most fascinating to look at. Their all-black outfits of loose, flowing tunics and trousers, topped by incredible black boxed hats (resembling a Fez) lend them at once a forbidding and mysterious aspect.

Yao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
瑶族 Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The stern black of their costume is only livened up by tresses of fuchsia coloured wool, pinned to the front of the ladies’ tunics, and the heavy silver earrings and necklaces they wear. The proud Yao ladies stride through the crowds mostly unsmiling and they are reluctant to have their pictures taken.

Yao minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The Hani 哈尼族 at Laomeng Sunday Market

Hani minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Thirdly, the Hani. Hani women also tend to wear a tunic or jacket over trousers, like the Yao, though their tunics are shorter and tighter. And like the Miao, they wear a  protective apron at the back.

hani minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Hani and Miao buying apples Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Their colours are subdued, blue and black are the favourites, but some green and petrol- blue can be seen too. 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.

Hani minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The Yi 彝族 at Laomeng Sunday Market

Yi minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan

Forth the Yi, The Yi ladies are almost as colourful as the Miao, but they wear trousers, not skirts. On top, they wear brightly coloured jackets, often with short sleeves.  The colours can vary, but light blue, pink, yellow and mauve appeared to be all the rage.

Yi minority Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Yi and Hani Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The top part of the jacket is covered with a semi- circle  made of embroidered flowers. At the back, instead of an apron, they tend to wear two embroidered lozenge-shaped appendages.

Black Thai 壮族 at Laomeng Sunday Market

zhuang black thai Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Black Thai Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Finally, the Black Thai were the least in evidence and dressed very simply in black, as their name suggests. Their ladies wore straight black skirts and short-sleeved blouses.

Zhuang black thai Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Black Thai Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

As to location, the market spreads out all over the town, which is small enough to be explored thoroughly in a couple of hours. Like most markets in China, each area or street is dedicated to a different product.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The square given over to vegetables and fruit is one of the highlights, with colourful ethnic women squatting down behind their wares, mostly small piles of exotic-looking vegetables, herbs or spices, spread out on a piece of cloth.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Purchases in this section are usually wrapped up in banana leaves.

Lunch

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Food Stalls Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Another, larger square combines meat and simple food stalls with stands selling clothes, cloth, wool and other items necessary for sewing, embroidering or knitting. The latter are particularly popular with the younger ladies.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Yao Lady having lunch Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Lunch is a simple affair, with stalls selling noodle dishes with plenty of meat, vegetables and spicies.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

On the outskirts of town, there are corners dedicated to selling chickens, piglets, or watch dogs. 

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

It’s a great place to watch and take photos as well, because once the market is in full swing, nobody will pay much attention to you, even though you may be the only foreigner in town, which is what happened to us.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Don’t come to this market looking for souvenirs; there are few things for sale that would interest tourists, which should hopefully keep tour groups away. We had a look at one of the colourful Miao skirts and were a bit taken aback by its price: although it was handmade and weighed a tonne, we thought that 300Yuan was a bit steep.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Going home Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

True to our landlord’s prediction, by midday the market began to wind down and the vehicles filled up again with their multi-coloured cargo.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Heading Home Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

As we were driving away, we could see lines of people heading off into the forest and up the mountain paths, back to their villages.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Packing up for the day Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Practicalities:

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Laomeng is situated in the south of Yunnan, not far from the Vietnamese border. As the town lies in a river valley, the climate is hot and humid and the surrounding countryside is extremely green and fertile, allowing for two rice harvests a year.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Regarding its ethnic composition, Laomeng straddles two prefectures, Yuanyang and Jinpin. Of these, Yuanyang is home to many Hani and Yi who tend and cultivate the stunning rice terraces the area is famous for, while Jingpin is home to the Miao, Black Thai and Yao.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

The first two live low down near the rivers, in the sub-tropical fertile lands, while the Yao dominate the high mountain areas and ridges and therefore the poorer lands.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

As for Laomeng town, there are a couple of basic hotels, small eateries and shops, but not much more, and the buildings are definitely on the drab side.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

However, the market converts the town into festival of colours and sounds and it would probably make a good base for exploring the area.

Coming and Going:

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

From Yuanyang there are plenty of mini buses to Laomeng. The journey can take more than 2 hours, depending on how many passengers the bus stops to pick up and drop off.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

You can hire a minivan for about 150 Yuan to take you to the market and back, including several hours waiting time. Buses from Laomeng also go to Jingpin and surrounding villages.

Laomeng Market 老勐 市场 Jinping Yunnan
Rural Scene Outside Laomeng Laomeng Market 老勐 市场

Click here for Jianshui near Laomeng

Laomeng Market Jinping Yunnan

Next week we’ll be publishing an updated article on Laomeng Market.
The incredible market near the Yuanyang Rice terraces.

Coming next: Laomeng Market, Jinping, Yunnan

Click here for new post: https://holachina.com/?p=10719

Various ethnic minorites buying and selling at Laomeng Market

Laomeng Sunday Market Photo Video

Laomeng Sunday Market

Photo Video

I hope you enjoy this photo video of Laomeng Market in the Jinping Prefecture of China’s Yunnan Province. It was definately one of the best markets we’ve ever been to.


http://youtu.be/H0NaaHfpLaA

Laomeng Market Jinping Yunnan

For an updated and complete version of Laomeng Market with new photos please click here:

Laomeng Market (Jinping, Yunnan Province)



The hotel owner in Yuanyang had told us to get there early, as many of the hill tribe people have to walk all the way back and the market starts breaking up at around noon.

First to Arrive

So we got to Laomeng at about 8:30, where we were among the first to arrive. We walked once round the town and had a look at the few stalls already set up by a small number of colourfully dressed Miao ladies and some older Yi women. Most of them seemed as curious about us, as we were about them. By the time we got back to our starting point, dozens of vans, carts and other vehicles had already arrived, unloading hundreds of passengers and all kinds of goods.

a kaleidoscopic mix of colours

They brought with them a kaleidoscopic mix of colours, as ladies from the Hani, Yao, Yi, Miao and Black Thai ethnic groups spilled out from the back and descended upon the market for a few hours of frenzied buying and selling.

For the next 3 hours we were treated to a visual feast that left us drained and out of film. Our driver had filled us in on some of the intricacies of the local costumes, so we were more or less able to distinguish between the women from the different ethnic groups.

Miao Fruit Sellers
Miao Fruit Sellers

The Hani Minority

 

from-yunnan-hani-book-4.jpg

Photo From the Yunnan Book on the Hani

 

The The Hani Minority / Hanizu

 

One of China’s least known Ethnic minorities

 

fro-yunnan-hani-book-3.jpg

Photo From the Yunnan Book on the Hani

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.

hani-ladie-waiting-for-the-bus.jpg

 

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

hani4.jpg
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

hanihuose2.jpg

 

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

from-yunnan-hani-book-2.jpg
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 year in 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.

hani-in-yuanyang.jpg

Yuanyang Rice Terraces

Yuanyang Rice Terraces / 远阳梯田 As they were in 2006

would- be professional photographers descend upon this remote town

During the first two or three months of every year, thousands of professional and would- be professional photographers descend upon this remote town in Yunnan province to take photos of one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena, the changing of winter to spring on some of the most spectacular rice terraces in the world.

At this time, the paddies are full of water, and their beauty is enhanced by the shifting contrasts of light and rolling mists that provide stunning vistas. At sunrise and sunset the water in the paddies can take on a myriad of colours, ranging from an eerie blue, to pink, yellow and bright red, thus providing the perfect hunting ground for those in search of the ultimate shot.

Unfortunately, our work schedule left us with no choice but to visit Yuanyang in summer, when the terraces have taken on a bright emerald hue, but are devoid of water. They are still an awesome sight, especially at dawn, but they are no match for those glossy photos, adorning the multiple coffee-table books and postcards that you can find all over town. The locals, who seem to be fairly obsessed with rice paddy viewing, constantly remind us that this is the wrong time to visit and insist that we should come again in February, to see the real thing!

The most popular terrace viewing points

Longshubao: particularly recommended for
Continue reading “Yuanyang Rice Terraces”