Market in country side is just as a performance stage where the roles you have expected or unexpected suppose to appear. Yesterday afternoon acrossing the Bei Pan river gorge on the way to Hua Gong we cought a market in a little town called He Tang on the side of the river.
A vertical comparison is very obvious in that up to the peaks is still in deep clouds and down the mountain yet is sugarcane fields and banana trees along the river beds. Not far from the river Buyi people in blue and black cloth, heading for some where, are getting more and more. Basing my experience, there must be a marketing place near by. The river goes to the Pear River, the third longest one in china and you still can feel the warm air blowing along the river from the south. Water in high speed is turbidly in brown and black resulted from washing coal in the up reaches boasting of the reputation of the coal sea in the south-west china.
Suddenly there appeared red amongst the major color of blue of Buyi and La Ba Miao people. They are called red Miao wearing red skirt or headscarf pinned a little wooden comb on the side of head. Being very dirty and rag, they are busy with carring the coal cake from boats and then load it up to trucks in line.
As finishing work, they will emerge in this little town and gather around a snack for rice noodles. Generally speaking, those red Miao are not in harmony with BuYi and Laba Miao people in such scenery. And it implied not only the difference of cloth and life standard but they are as ancient as fossil. However, I concluded a message from their finery. Three year ago I traveled to Vietnam and bought a serial of postcards about local ethnic groups. One of the cards shows the finery of red Miao of LaoJai province of Vietnam is very similar to Red Miao we saw today. The finery is just like a code across the history and boundary and a track access to the unknown and forgotten.
One man of them told me they live in a village called Lan She Po still unaccessiable by bus on that far big mountain and it is not so far but need hike for three hours. He even invited us. Eight months later in summer, I met this man in the other market. The first glimpse made me feel we saw each other before and then he recalled me this winter market. The two markets in two seasons are in two valleys amid with the mountain La Shepo village of red Miao located. In spacious countryside, it is coincidental to encounter him for two times in such two markets with similar background.
Right at a relatively flat place surrounded by peaks is called Hua Migu and our mini bus pulled down a few miles ahead of Yao Qisan town. On the right is a Buyi village. Villagers carrying buckets and backpack were walking out of the village for the market in Yao Qisan and others of black Buyi and La Ba Miao people were also passing by us. Several red shadows were approaching to us from the field covered by green wheat shoot. And behind them two hundreds meters away is a village in black and brown houses roofed with straw.
For the marketing day, women will dress up delicately. Red skirt will be much brighter than other time in combination with embroidery waistband and cold-proof headwear as well as a little wooden comb color painted. Walls of houses are made up with bamboo pasted with brown soil or of wood for some. Most of houses are years old immerged in ancient styles which lead one to stir up imagination.
One woman always followed us as we wandered the village. She insisted us to visit an elementary school sponsored by her and her husband for ten years. She said she went to Guiyang the capital city and got some aid and has the school renewed. The school just on the turn of the road is not far and the only one for many villages around.
We mentioned the Red Miao in Vietnam so as to see her reaction. Her answer exceeded our expecting.
'Yes, there are our relatives and I went there in 70's', she said.
Her husband joined the army at that time and serve at the boundary area between China and Vietnam. She gave us her own experience during her visit to her husband.
One day she went to a local town in marketing day. Several women stared at her for a long time on street and one of them came to her and asked in Miao language, 'you look like the people of our group because of our similar finery and where are you from'.
"I am from Guizhou and I came to see my husband who is in army', she answered.
The Vietnamese said, their ancestors are also from Guizhou and now inhabit in LaoJie in Vietnam and we came to here for market, what's your family name?
"My family name is Xiong", she answered.
"Our family names are also Xiong and we are one family actually!!!", Vietnamese said.
Then she was invited to the home of Vietnamese of Red Miao and easily went through custom without any formality in that it is difficult for custom men to distinguish Miao people in the same dresses who is Chinese and who is Vietnamese. She had stayed there for 40 days spending Miao's New Year in the village and led to visit Miao relatives in Vietnam and Laos.
Upon the question how they spend Miao's New Year, she said it is very similar to us, such as slaughtering pigs and making sticky rice cakes.
