Shebaoshan is a small Bai(ethnic
Chinese minority) village situated on the side of a mountain. The
air, I feel, is much heavier and we all get tired pretty easily if we
physically exert ourselves for too long. Every day, the crepuscular
clouds cover part of the mountains to form an Arcadian landscape
unlike any I’ve yet to see. As the day goes on, the mountain comes
alive with the incessant howling of the thief monkeys who stole our
grapes. Their howls seem to attrite the clouds, driving them away
gradually, and call forth the sun. The giant incense burners are lit
to pay tribute to the Buddha ensconced at the side of the mountain
and the temple doors open to welcome the devoted.
In the coming days,
a GeHui(music festival) will be held and travelers from around Yunnan
will come to see the performances. When night falls, the temple fills
with random people dancing and singing. On a couple of occasions,
they even taught us their dances and we were able to join in. In one
instance, we were even shooed downstairs by the temple owners who
were afraid we would break the second floor with our dancing and our
jumping. At Shebaoshan, barely anyone speaks Mandarin yet as evinced
by our ability to partake in their fun, it really doesn’t matter.
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