Lincang: Looks Very Cultured

Lincang: Looks Very Cultured Text/ Rongrong Lincang, whether as a tourist spot or a transit point, I pondered for a long time. As a tourist spot, it is naturally the "Wengding Primitive Tribe." However, it is indeed too far from the main route, and after a fire in 2021, is the "reconstructed ancient village" still worth staying? After much deliberation, I gritted my teeth and gave up—shortening the itinerary, without the mindset to take risks. Thus, the Three Museums Cultural Square, Sigangli Square, and Yulong Lake were added to the leisurely tour. Seeing the "Lincang Cultural Center" sign, my husband laughed heartily, saying he wanted to take a photo to commemorate it, feeling "very cultured." He always prides himself on being a rough man, so this childish behavior was not surprising. The Cultural Center, Library, and Museum, the "Three Museums" are concentrated, indeed providing better public cultural services. Accustomed to the simplicity and elegance of various local cultures, I was a bit unaccustomed to the strong modern sense of the three buildings in front of me. My son said, don't be deceived by appearances, you have to look deeper to judge. Indeed, after all, it's newly built, and the modern style is normal. Moreover, the "Three Museums" have similar styles, so they don't seem isolated. For example, each building has similar longitudinal decorations on the top, perhaps related to lighting, further indicating the "trinity"? It wasn't open hours. Perhaps due to the out-of-town visitors, the museum girl was very cute, not only allowing us to register and enter but also enthusiastically acting as a guide. She was quite happy to say that there was a calligraphy exhibition nearing its end, where we could see works by local masters. What does it feel like to calmly accept "quality service"? It just felt that the people of Lincang were particularly friendly, truly "very cultured." I didn't understand the calligraphy works, the fonts were unfamiliar, and I had to guess the content and even check Baidu. But some of the charm, rhythm, lines, brushstrokes, along with the overall framework and emotional expression, were barely discernible. The girl said it would have been better if we had come earlier, as there would have been someone to introduce the works, but unfortunately, she didn't understand much and couldn't remember much. Thus, we were also fortunate to come into contact with "Gengma Dai Paper-cutting Intangible Cultural Heritage," "Jinshui Leak Printing Craft," "Buddhist Stories and Folk Legends," "Dai Embroidery Craft," and more. Especially the embroidered works, according to the girl, are: the world's scenery worn on the body. It turns out that folk culture is so close to nature? Is this another meaning of "the unity of heaven and man"? There are many stories of Southern Buddhism, presented in various artistic forms. For example, Water Dripping Dedication, White Cow Princess, Golden Gecko, and so on. There are also various Buddhist banners, prayer flags, etc., which became rich and exciting through the girl's explanation. Coming to a nearly floor-to-ceiling ancient embroidery piece, the girl apologized, saying it had just been collected from the folk, the damaged parts hadn't been repaired in time, and the content involved hadn't been verified, so she couldn't provide more information. This sincere and earnest attitude was very touching. My husband said, just for this, Lincang is worth another visit. With a good mood, we leisurely headed to Yulong Lake. Along the way, there were many tropical plants, such as palm trees, Persian dates, and flame trees in full bloom, and exotic kapok trees. I was amazed by the various swollen or tall and straight tree shapes, often circling the trees two or three times, while my husband took a shooting stick and crazily photographed the flowers and leaves. My son watched from a distance with a high-cold look of "you two have never seen the world." Unknowingly, we arrived at the Wa Culture Square—oh my, another cultural lesson? Indeed, it looks very cultured. The center of the square has a giant bull head pattern on the ground. The bull is the totem of the Wa people, a symbol of auspiciousness and sacredness. It reminded me of the street where the square is located, called Sigangli Avenue. "Sigangli," a widely circulated creation story (oral) of the Wa people in Cangyuan, is the creation epic of the Wa people. In the Wa language, "Sigang" means stone cave or gourd, and "li" means coming out. It means: the stone cave and gourd gave birth to humans and all things in nature. It is the Wa ancestors' direct understanding of human birth, also reflecting the maternal worship of the Wa period. The front of the square has a giant statue of Wa people drumming (wooden drum), with large combination reliefs on both sides, mainly featuring "Sigangli," integrating other Wa legends from regions like Ximeng and Lancang, introducing the origin, history, and culture of the Wa people. The left relief mainly features stories of heaven and earth (Liji God creating the earth, Luan God opening the sky) and the creation of all things by gods, including "Toad Saving People," "Human and Bull Mating Giving Birth to Gourd," "All Ethnic Groups Originating from Sigang," and so on. The right relief mainly features production and life scenes. For example, building houses, pounding rice and carrying water, cultivating tea trees, making wooden drums, bull sacrifices, headhunting blood sacrifices, and so on. The scorching sun made it impossible to stop and read carefully, including the stone pillar reliefs at the entrance, only feeling the Wa culture rushing towards us. Going further, turning left, Yulong Lake was right in front of us. Blue sky, white clouds, buildings, green plants, including the water area, all couldn't be appreciated in time, as we saw on the island in the middle of the lake, egrets either strolling leisurely, perching on branches, or flapping their wings and flying, grabbing our attention. There were also other famous or unknown birds, flying far and near, quickly returning to the forest, or boldly stopping on the lakeside railings, tilting their heads to look at the passing tourists. —It is the only park I have been to so far, planned for birds and isolated from human intrusion, with a small island in the middle of the lake, not just one, but three or more—the lake is too vast to know if any were missed. My husband said, a paradise for birds. "Black swans," my son pointed and shouted. In family units, the black swans floated on the water, at ease. The existence of groups, a rare scale, should still be credited to the island in the middle of the lake—a livable place that can keep them. Perhaps treated kindly by the citizens for a long time, the swans, besides playing in the water, could also come ashore in groups. How close were they? If you spread your palm, they would peck food from it, accurately identifying which two were adult swans and which were newly grown cygnets. So cultured, raising black swans like poultry, my husband sighed, saying, "the concept of delineating territories for birds" is worth promoting nationwide! There were food stalls around the park, mainly barbecue, and also local specialties. Strangely, there were a lot of chicken butts. Staring at them for a long time, I found it funny: how much do the people of Lincang love to eat them? The stall owner was very enthusiastic, actively introducing, saying, we call it "chicken beauty," would you like to try? A little later, more local people came for a walk, and the chicken butts sold very well, right? It felt very down-to-earth. Wonderful!