Where is Northeast Guizhou?

Northeastern Guizhou Province, the middle and lower reaches of the Wujiang River

Northeastern Guizhou is one of the main settlement areas of Tujia people in my country. It has high mountains and lush forests, crisscrossing ravines, sparse villages, and not densely populated areas. . Due to historical reasons and geographical constraints, the transportation here tends to be backward and the economy is underdeveloped. However, it also has many advantages: the scenery is beautiful and charming, the climate is mild and warm, and the folk customs are simple and friendly. It is a good place to develop ethnic tourism. In recent years, county committees and governments in northeastern Guizhou have been making every effort to tap local tourism resources, create local tourism highlights, and play the tourism culture card. Sinan County has launched tourist attractions such as "Changba Stone Forest", "Wujiang Mountain Gorge" and "Haojiawan Qing Dynasty Folk Residences". While Yinjiang County focuses on building the Mount Fanjing tourism brand, it has launched tourist attractions featuring the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps. Join the red tour centered on the ground wood yellow. Shiqian County is focusing on building folk culture tourist spots such as Yaoshang and Loushang, while Dejiang, Yanhe, Fenggang and other counties have also launched their own tourism highlights.

Relying on natural scenery and developing tourism is indeed a good way to promote local economic development. However, it is not enough to rely solely on natural attractions to attract tourists. As a minority area, natural beauty, lakes and mountains should be included It is organically combined with the simple and profound folk customs to form a whole, forming a unique ethnic customs tourism. The Tujia people in Northeast Guizhou have a long history, numerous folk customs, and profound national cultural accumulation. They have their own national characteristics in clothing, entertainment, food, etc. Especially in terms of food, the Tujia food culture has a long history and distinct national characteristics, and is an important part of the Tujia culture. With the current development of tourism, Tujia food cultural resources, as an important tourism resource, have become increasingly prominent in the tourism industry. The material and spiritual functions played by Tujia food culture in real life are constantly increasing. The discovery and development of Tujia food folk customs have far-reaching historical significance and great practical significance

1. Tujia people in northeastern Guizhou The main features of food culture

The ancients said: "Food is the first necessity of the people." Food is the common physiological need of human beings. However, different regions and different ethnic groups have their own unique food cultures. So does the family. Tujia food culture has a long history and is a comprehensive national cultural system including food customs, taboos, beliefs, and food systems. Tujia food culture has strong national characteristics due to its intuitiveness, distinctiveness, and participability. The dietary customs of the Tujia people in northeastern Guizhou are greatly influenced by the natural environment, national culture, and food customs of neighboring provinces and regions, forming unique sour, spicy, and bacon food customs. Tujia people like sauerkraut, sour soup noodles, sauerkraut fried rice, tofu and sauerkraut fish are all good snacks. Tujia people often pickle many vegetables and meats into sour ones, such as "sour peppers", "sour cowpeas", "sour eggplants", "sour fish", "sour oak meat", etc. The sauerkraut is an appetizer, good for the stomach, promotes body fluids and quenches thirst. It can increase appetite and is a must-eat for Tujia people in almost every meal. Whenever building houses, weddings or funerals, or during festivals, there will be one or more sauerkraut on the table. Yangjia'ao Township, Tingziba Township, Sinan County, Yonghe Town, Fenggang County, and Shijing Township are famous for their sour fish. People who come here to visit relatives and friends, go sightseeing or do business often... Buy some to share with your family, relatives and friends. In addition to eating sauerkraut, the Tujia people also like to eat chili peppers, which they call chili peppers. They can make chili peppers in many ways, such as "bad chili peppers, paste sea chili peppers, dada sea chili peppers, noodle sea chili peppers (chili powder)" ), soaked sea pepper, dried sea pepper, etc. They stir-fry fresh and relatively tender sea pepper and call it "sea pepper baby". "Sea pepper baby" is fragrant and tender, but not spicy. Many Tujia people like it. eat. At Tujia banquets or daily meals, almost every dish is accompanied by chili peppers, which shows the importance of chili peppers to Tujia people’s life. Tujia people also like cured food, in which "Tujia bacon" is the most famous. During the twelfth lunar month, Tujia people cut fresh pork into pieces about seven or eight inches long and four or five inches wide, and mix them with salt and pepper evenly. , marinate it in a large basin or iron pot for a few days, then hang it on the fire kang and smoke it for a long time to become bacon. The more particular ones will use cypress branches and leaves plus citrus shells and other burning smoke to smoke it, making it The color and fragrance are optimal. Tujia bacon not only has a pure taste, but is also easy to preserve and can usually be stored for more than a year. Tujia people usually serve it as a main dish to guests, and it is very popular among guests.

In the long-term production and life, the Tujia people have also created many special foods, such as: Sinan’s flower sweet cake, mung bean powder, Yinjiang’s red sweet potato powder, and dried tofu along the river. The camellia porridge in Nan, Dejiang, Fenggang, and Wuchuan areas, as well as the "pork in soup" that is commonly eaten by the Tujia people in Northeast Guizhou, are all good national and folk delicacies. At present, these must be considered as important factors in the development of tourism in Northeast Guizhou.

2. The value and significance of exploring, developing and protecting Tujia food culture in Northeast Guizhou

Northeast Guizhou belongs to the old, young, border and poor areas. It is affected by transportation and other factors. The economy is not developed enough and it is still relatively backward in all aspects. To change the poverty and backwardness of this region, we must make full use of its strengths and weaknesses and make full use of its resource advantages. As mentioned earlier, the beautiful natural scenery and rich ethnic customs in Northeast Guizhou are one of the This is a huge wealth. The tourism industry in this area has wide space and great potential, which is worthy of full utilization and exploration. From the strategies adopted by various county committees and governments in this region to develop the county's economy, it can be seen that tourism has been highly valued by leaders.

It has been put on the work agenda of local governments as an important industry.

So, how can we develop the tourism industry to promote the economic development of the region? The author believes that the correct approach should be to organically combine the exploration and development of natural attractions with the creation of Tujia specialty food. Beautiful mountains and rivers and beautiful natural scenery are certainly pleasing to the eye and give people wonderful visual enjoyment, but this alone is not enough. We need to have guests come and retain them, which requires some thinking. If we make good use of the local simple and rich Tujia ethnic customs, explore Tujia food culture resources, create Tujia specialties, and form a series of Tujia-style snacks, guests will not only gain visual enjoyment when traveling in this area, but also enjoy a large amount of food. Satisfy your taste buds and achieve the purpose of traveling here.

To discover Tujia food culture, you must play two cards well.

(1) Play with specialties, such as Tujia "pork in soup", "oil tea", "mung bean powder", etc. At present, most of these foods are still consumed by families and have not become commodities and have not played their due role. business value. "Pork in soup" is commonly eaten by the Tujia people when they kill pigs during festivals. The Tujia people are enthusiastic and kind. In a Tujia village, whoever kills a pig must treat the neighbors to a meal. This meal is the main thing. The dish must be "pork soaked in soup". The method of "pork in soup" is very particular. The meat should be pork buttocks, which should be fat and lean. The meat should be cut into thin slices. It should be boiled to dry out the water before frying. When the meat slices become rolls, add sour sea pepper and Sichuan peppercorns (granules or powder). (any shape can be used), add ginger and garlic sprouts, add appropriate amount of water, and cook until cooked. The cooked "pork in soup" has a strong aroma and good color, making people want to eat it at the first sight. If Tujia "soup pork" is brought to formal banquets and used in hotels and restaurants, as a special dish, it will definitely be loved by guests. Like "pork in soup", Tujia "mung bean flour", "sour fish", "red sweet potato flour", "dried tofu", "flower sweet cake", etc. also have national characteristics and are worthy of development and promotion.

(2) Playing the green card. The industry in Northeast Guizhou is underdeveloped, so agricultural pollution is not large. Many foods are authentic green foods and healthy foods. This is due to the rapid development of industrial civilization and increasing food hygiene and safety issues. Today, green and healthy food is undoubtedly very popular. Tujia areas should make a big fuss around green food, which should be very profitable. The achievements of green agriculture in Wufeng County and Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, Enshi Prefecture, Hubei Province, not far from Northeast Guizhou: After a comprehensive evaluation and certification by experts organized by relevant national and provincial departments, by the end of April 2004, Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County Among the agricultural specialties in the autonomous county, pollution-free food accounts for 100%, green food accounts for 63%, and organic food accounts for 15%. The green brand doubles the value of Wufeng mountain products. After Wufeng tea was recognized as organic tea that met international standards, the price per kilogram increased from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan. After Wufeng potatoes were recognized as green food, the price of their processed products in the international market was as high as US$2,000 per ton. It has played a huge role in the economic development of Wufeng County. The development of green and healthy food in Northeast Guizhou also has the same unique environmental conditions as Wufeng County. We can refer to the successful experience of others. We can use stones from other mountains to attack jade. When we develop food culture, we add "green concepts" and I believe it will definitely succeed. Play the food culture card well.

In tourist areas, it would be unimaginable without the catering industry. When people appreciate the natural beauty and cultural attractions during travel, an elegant dining environment, rich and distinctive food and beverages are obviously important choices. If the northeastern Guizhou region can seize its favorable factors and tap into and make good use of Tujia food characteristics, the development of its tourism industry will definitely be very promising. As the tourism industry develops, the local economy will also be driven to develop.