The people of the Bouyei ethnic group are a Chinese ethnic minority found mainly in the southwestern region of the country. Bouyei people mostly dwell in Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, with Guizhou having the largest population, or 97 percent of the total. Guizhou's Bouyei people are mostly located in the Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefectures of southern and southwestern Guizhou, with some also located in Anshun, Guiyang, Liupanshui and other regions across China.
The residential area of the Bouyei people is situated in a subtropical plateau between the Sichuan Basin and Guangxi hills. The residential area is surrounded by the Miaoling mountains which stretch from west to east and are 2500 meters to 2800 meters in height. The highest peak is 2900 meters, which is not only the highest peak on the Guizhou plateau, but also divides the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas.
Eighty percent of the Bouyei people's residential areas are located in karst landscapes. The karst geomorphologic landscape is made up of stone forests, rock clusters, high-altitude forests, dissolving mounds, waterfalls and so on.
The home of the Bouyei people has beautiful scenery, including the Huxi River, Huangguoshu Waterfalls, the Dragon King's Palace in Anshun city, Maling Gorge in Xingyi city, Hujiang Gorge on Guangling Mountain, and Zhangjiang Gorge in Libo county.
The unique natural landscape and ethnic style of Bouyei residential areas have become an attractive tourist resource. Tourism is becoming a new economic growth point in the area.
The Bouyei people take rice, corn, wheat and buckwheat as their staple foods. They especially like glutinous rice food, such as glutinous rice cake and Zongzi, a traditional Chinese rice-pudding. The Bouyei people eat glutinous rice at every festival. Their non-staple foods include vegetables, beans and meat.
Sour pepper and tofu are some of their most famous dishes. Every Bouyei household brews glutinous rice wine, regular rice wine and corn wine. Some rice wines, which are used to entertain guests, are brewed with wild resveratrol fruit and are rich in nutrients. The brewing technique of wild resveratrol fruit wine has a history dating back hundreds of years. It has evolved into a bulk commodity and sells well throughout the country.
The Bouyei have many traditional festivals. Besides the traditional New Year Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, the Double Third Day, Eighth of the Fourth Month and Double Sixth Festivals are also celebrated by the Bouyei.
To Bouyei people, November marks the beginning of a new year. During the Twelfth lunar month, Bouyei people brew wines, make glutinous rice cakes, pickle meat and make new clothes to welcome the new year. On New Year's Eve, people enjoy a sumptuous feast in honor of their ancestors, light firecrackers, and stay up until dawn.
The third day of the third lunar month it is when the Bouyei offer a sacrifice to the gods of land and mountains. The eighth day of the fourth lunar month is the Ox-God Festival, where residents relax their cattle and feed them cake. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, the Bouyei worship the Gods of the field, land and mountains; on the 14th day of the seventh month they honor the dead.
The Bouyei are also gifted singers and dancers. They sing celebratory songs, build houses, welcome guests and remember sad occasions.
The Bouyei drama and lantern plays are their most unique dramas. Bouyei drama is famous in Guiyang, Changshun and southwestern Guizhou province. It is usually staged during the Spring Festival. Lantern plays are renowned in Dushan, Pingtang and Sandu counties and evolved from lantern singing and dancing and Guangxi's local opera.
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Unique buildings of Bouyei ethnic group. [Photo/china.com.cn] |
