Enshi: Hidden Daughters Club makes tourism popular

Tujia Yaomei throws hydrangeas to the person she likes. (Photo by correspondent Zhao Shengmi)

At the opening ceremony of the Enshi Tujia Daughters Association, the Tujia children performed "The Sound of Tujia Drums". (Photo by correspondent Zhao Yingxue)

Yaomei at her daughter’s party. (Photo by correspondent Wu Gongxun)

"There is a Magpie Bridge Association in the sky, and a daughter association in Tujia; the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the sky, and the elder brother and the younger sister on the earth."

August 29 From the 30th to the 30th, romantic and sentimental songs were sung again, and Enshi City, "the cultural hometown of the Tujia Daughters' Association in China", ushered in the annual grand event - the Tujia Daughters' Association.

The four major venues of Dongxiatao, Suobuya Stone Forest, Hongtu Township Shimeiyao Village and Daochi Village had a lively opening, with tourists arriving in droves, igniting the mountain villages with enthusiasm.

Stone Forest Witnesses Eachother's Oath

"Seeing it once is better than hearing it a hundred times, it is really wonderful!" On August 29, Mr. Tan from Wuhan couldn't help but sigh after watching the opening ceremony performance.

Mr. Tan is a member of the motorcade for this year’s Daughters’ Association’s “Single Self-Driving·Meeting Thousands of Miles Daughters’ Association” event. At about 8 o'clock, he and 200 tourists labeled 50 cars with the word "囍" and "wear" hydrangeas, pretending to be a wedding party and went to the main venue of Dongxiacao Village to attend the opening ceremony.

At the main venue of Dongxiacao Village, crowds of people followed the wedding procession of Tujia wedding customs in sedan chairs. They started from the antique street courtyard, passed through the "windmill tunnel", and walked all the way to the antique lantern opera museum.

After the ceremony of "Happy Daughters' Club", various activities started wonderfully. Tan Linghua, deputy mayor of Baiyangping Town, introduced that the programs are all local intangible cultural heritage performances in Enshi, with both professional performers and folk bands formed by villagers. The original lyrics of the self-composed song "Dongxiatrough is so good" vividly describe the changes of Dongxiatrough, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.

The singing and dancing blind date at the Sobuya Stone Forest branch venue was equally exciting, with "Nuo Dance Prayer", "Maogus" and "Playing" performed in turn. On the right side of Tiejiazhai Square, the names, ages, occupations and other information of young men and women are hung on the dating boards in the "Dating Corridor." Hundreds of young men and women stopped by online registration and organized by the Youth League Enshi Municipal Committee, looking for Sweetheart.

After the singing and dancing blind date, 7 couples went to Nuopo Stone Square to hold a collective engagement ceremony. Witnessed by the stone forest formed 460 million years ago, young people exchanged gifts, signed "engagement letters" to Nuo Gong and Nuo Po, made love vows, and then went to the stone forest for "catch-up meetings" and traveled hand in hand. Make an oath of love.

Going on blind dates, singing love songs, and the bonfire carnival continued the excitement of the day. Brothers and sisters dressed in gorgeous Tujia costumes danced the "Waving Dance" together around the bonfire. In Hongtu Township, the birthplace of the Daughters' Club, an authentic blind date is taking place. Young men and women have heart-to-heart conversations, and their enthusiasm remains high high in the mountains.

The firelight and starlight echoed each other, and the sound of music resounded throughout the mountains. The mountain village came alive because of this grand event.

Tujia wedding customs evolved into a cultural feast

The lime kiln in Hongtu Township, Enshi City, is the origin of the "Tujia Daughters' Association" and has a history of 400 years. The Women's Club Festival preserves the legacy of the ancient Ba people's wedding customs - every year on the twelfth day of the seventh lunar month, the wise and brave Tujia elder brother and younger sister secretly choose a partner in the name of going to the market to buy and sell goods in order to pursue free love and marriage. They skillfully use Bixing to answer each other's questions with folk songs, find a suitable partner, and strive for the opportunity of independent marriage.

Since 1995, the Daughters' Club has been hosted by the Enshi Municipal Government. This traditional festival emerged from the lime kilns and gradually evolved from free love into a grand event with the theme of love and highlighting the characteristics of Tujia wedding customs and culture.

"Eight large sedans are carried, red candles are hung high, the ceremony is carried out, the bride is welcomed, the door is blocked, the hall is worshiped, the sedan is carried, the weeping ceremony, the carriage and the horse are stopped... The traditional Tujia wedding customs performance makes the tourists fascinated." Sun Zhao Changhong, a villager in Shilin Village, Hexiang, once worked as a sedan bearer and carried the "new girl" before the development of Suobuya Stone Forest. In my memory, a stage was set up in Tiejiazhai Square, and villagers from all over the country came to watch the excitement. The tops of the surrounding hills were crowded with people.

To this day, the stage is still there, and the Tujia wedding customs are still lively. The daughter's association, which is constantly innovating and developing in the inheritance, is glowing with the fresh energy of the new era: Douyin "dance" to attract brides, hot air balloons Confession; the top ten bicycle races attracted more than 400 domestic and foreign cyclists, and thousands of tourists cheered; the original ecological folk song competition, 17 township teams, you sing and I appear; Nuo opera culture, lantern opera performances, minority Ethnic representatives paraded to showcase Enshi culture and ethnic customs; water curtain movies, bonfire parties, starry sky camping and other activities attracted the attention of young people.

"It was simple back then, but it is very different now." Zhao Changhong sighed after attending the meeting again after many years.

Flash release, online short video, live cloud live broadcast, drone shooting...the popular communication methods nowadays bring the daughter society to the "cloud", allowing tourists to experience the Tujia customs and Enshi charm without going out.

My Daughter Will Become an Enshi Travel Business Card

“Please wear life jackets and wait in line.

"On August 29, the "Water Carnival" venue at the Longkan Lake in Dongxiacao Village was very popular, with people rowing on the lake, walking on the suspension bridge, and swinging... Adults took their children to buy tickets and enter the park to experience the passion of summer. < /p>

“It’s delicious and fun, my kids are very satisfied! "Flags were waving on the ancient streets. Ms. Chen, a tourist from Yichang, and her daughter feasted at the food stalls. Local snacks such as Kang Yam and Tujia Shaobing made them give a thumbs up.

In the evening, the self-service barbecue garden was crowded with people. A circle of barbecue tables was set up on the green ground, and in the middle was the bonfire party venue. Tourists were enjoying themselves while dancing and eating late night snacks.

The main venue media live broadcast room. It is very popular. While introducing the scenery of Dongxiatao and the history of the Daughter's Association, the anchor also promoted Enshi's cultural and creative products and specialty agricultural products.

Using the festival as a medium, the village is singing a drama of cultural and tourism integration. The village is a national ecological cultural village and one of the first batch of national rural tourism key villages. “Take this opportunity to let tourists know about Dongxiacao and let rural tourism develop again. " Said Tan Jian, leader of the village-based poverty alleviation "Jian Dao Class" in Dongxiacao Village.

Daochi Village in Hongtu Township, known as "the Yaochi in the sky and the rice pond in the world", is located in a remote area and has been "raised in a boudoir for many years. "Unknown to me", Daughter Club introduced tourists to the beautiful mountain village, and the villagers followed them to eat "tourist rice".

"Stone Forest and Daughter Club are a good match. Every time Daughter Club meets, I am attracted by the scenic spot." A wave of popularity and a promotion. "The marketing person in charge of Suobuya Stone Forest Scenic Spot said that since the launch of the "Walking with Love, Traveling to Hubei" campaign, the scenic spot has received a total of nearly 40,000 tourists, with a maximum daily reception of 4,200. At the daughter's party, a night in a charming town B&B The store was packed with tourists, and tourists walked into the shops to buy handicrafts to "add fire" to the post-epidemic recovery. In Enshi Daughter City, a large-scale Tujia folk melodrama - "Daughter's Club - Blind Date" was performed every night. The most anticipated program for tourists.

As one of the three business cards of Enshi City, the "Girls Club" has evolved from the cultural customs of a remote mountain village to "multi-point blooming" and has formed an integrated festival, culture, A comprehensive event integrating economy, trade and tourism, it has become an important starting point to promote Enshi and promote Enshi's post-epidemic revitalization and post-disaster reconstruction.