Jizushan Mountain is a national AAAA grade scenic zone, the famous Buddhist shrine known throughout South and Southeast Asia, one of China’s top ten famous Buddhist mountains, a major attraction of the national scenic area of Dali, and a multi functional scenic zone based on exhibiting Buddhist-based cultures and ecological landscape, integrating Buddhist pilgrimage, Buddhist studies, tourism, and science expedition.

 Jizushan Mountain sits high within Binchuan County, Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Dali, in the northwest of Yunnan, on Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Its highest peak Tianzhu Peak (the “pillar of the sky”) is 3,248 meters high. Since there were three peaks in a row in the front, and a ridge dragging in the rear which overall looks like a foot of the chick, it is therefore call “Jizushan” (the “Chick Foot”) Mountain. In the mountain there are 40 strange hills, 12 perilous peaks, 34 palisades, 45 tranquil caverns, and more than a hundred brooks and springs. In addition, there are more than 500 kinds of advanced plants in more than 80 species; there is well preserved pristine ecology; ancient millennium trees can be seen everywhere; and there are dozens of rare birds and animals.

Since nearly 1300 years the Jizu Mountain (Jizushan or Jizu Shan) attracts Buddhist pilgrims from all over China, including Tibet. Jizu Mountain (Jizushan or Jizu Shan) ranks amongst the 5 most important Buddhist Mountains in China. It is said that back in history, Mahakasyapa, a scholar of Sakyamuni (Siddarta Gautama) came to Jizu Shan for meditation.

 The first temples and pavilions where built during the Three Kingdom Period (220-264) but most temples came into existence during the heydays of Jizu Shan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Unfortunately, most of the once over 300 magnificent Temples, Pagodas and Pavilions vanished during the Cultural Revolution only to be partially reconstructed in recent years. A 3 hours walk past several interesting temples through a dense pine tree forest leads up from the Zhusheng Temple to the summit at 3’280 Metres above sea level, where the lovely, 13 storey high Jinding Temple can be found, which was first built during the 11th century.

1.Orient Vienna KTV（东方维也纳KTV）

Tel：0872-7333188

Address:AroundDianxi Fruit Trade Maket, Binchuan County

2.Fodu BayBerry（佛都杨梅园）

Address: 20 kilometers from the county city

3.Xinkang Citrus Orchard(鑫康柑桔园)

Address:East of the county city，near Xiangning Road

4.Jiahong Gardening and Ecological Orchard（佳泓园艺生态园）

Address:East of the county city，near Xiangning Road

5.Shuangxin Pomegranate Orchard（爽馨石榴园）

Address:Gandian Village of Jinniu Town,8km from the county city

6.Fangwu Bayberry and Winter Peach Orchard(方武杨梅冬桃园)

Address:South of Jizu Mountain,30km from the county city

According to the Chinese government: “Due to complex historical reasons, the slave system of the Yis in the Liangshan Mountains lasted till 1949. Before 1949, the Yis in the Liangshan Mountain areas were stratified into four different ranks — “Nuohuo,” “Qunuo,” “Ajia” and “Xiaxi.” The demarcation between the masters and the slaves was insurmountable. The rank of “Nuohuo” was determined by blood lineage and remained permanent, the other ranks could never move up to the position of rulers.

“Nuohuo,” meaning “black Yi,” was the highest rank of society. Being the slave-owning class, Nuohuo made up 7 per cent of the total population. The black Yis controlled people of the other three ranks to varying degrees, and owned 60 to 70 per cent of the arable land and a large amount of other means of production. The black Yis were born aristocrats, claiming their blood to be “noble” and “pure,” and forbidding marriages with people of the other three ranks. They despised physical labour, lived by exploiting the other ranks and ruled the slaves by force.

“Qunuo,” meaning “white Yi,” was the highest rank of the ruled and made up 50 per cent of the population. This rank was an appendage to the black Yis personally and, as subjects under the slave system, they enjoyed relative independence economically and could control “Ajia” and “Xiaxi” who were inferior to them. “Qunuo” lived within the areas governed by the black Yi slave owners, had no freedom of migration, nor could they leave the areas without the permission of their masters. They had no complete right of ownership when disposing of their own property, but were subjected to restrictions by their masters. They had to pay some fees to their masters when they wanted to sell their land. The property of a dead person who had no offspring went to his master. Though the black Yi slave owners could not kill, sell or buy Qunuo at will, they could transfer or present as a gift the power of control over Qunuo. They could even give away Qunuo as the compensation for persons they had killed and use Qunuo as stakes. So, Qunuo had no complete personality of their own, though they were not slaves.

“Ajia” made up one third of the population, being rigidly bound to black Yi or Qunuo slaveowners, who could freely sell, buy and kill them. “Xiaxi” was the lowest rank, accounting for 10 per cent of the population. They had no property, personal rights or freedom, and were regarded as “talking tools.” They lived in damp and dark corners in their masters’ houses, and at night had to curl up with domestic animal to keep warm. Supervised by masters, Xiaxi did heavy housework and farm work all the year round. They wore rags and tattered sheepskins, and lived on wild roots and leftovers. Slave owners inflicted all sorts of torture on those who were rebellious, fettered them with iron chains and wooden shackles to prevent them from escaping. Like domestic animals, Xiaxi could be freely disposed of as chattels, ordered about, insulted, beaten up, bought and sold, or killed as sacrifices to gods.

“Corvee was the basic form of exploitation by the slave owners. Qunuo and Ajia must use their own cattle and tools to cultivate their masters’ land. Qunuo had to perform five, six or more than 10 days of corvee each year. They could send their slaves to do it or pay a sum of money instead. Corvee performed by Ajia took up one third to one half of their total working time. They often had to neglect their own land because of cultivating the land of their masters. Besides corvee, Qunuo and Ajia had to take usurious loans imposed by their black Yi masters.

 “Ordered about to toil like beasts of burden, the slaves had no interest in production at all. To win freedom, slaves in the Liangshan Mountain areas resorted to measures like going slow, destroying tools, maltreating animal, burning their masters’ property and even committing suicidal attacks on their masters. Though it was hard for slaves in remote mountain areas to run away, they still tried to escape at the risk of their lives. Spontaneous and sporadic rebellions staged by slaves against slave owners never ceased. Organized and collective struggle for personal rights also grew, and collective anathema often turned into small armed insurgence.”

Name：Huangjinhaian KTV(哈黄金海岸KTV)

Address：Around Yangjiang Road,Yangbi County,Dali

Name：Kele KTV(可乐KTV)

Address：Around Cangshan Western Road,Yangbi County,Dali

Name：Tianshi Tea House(天使茶楼)

Address：Ankang Street,Yangbi County,Dali

Name：Judian Bar(聚点酒吧)

Address：Around Meixi Street,Yangbi County,Dali

Name：Longquan Tea Bar(龙泉茶吧)

Address：No.42，Ankang Street,Yangbi County,Dali

 There are records about the origin of the Torch Festival in the “Kunming County Annals” written in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty: “There was a Yi woman Anan in the Han Dynasty. Her husband was killed by evildoers, and she swore that she would not submit to the killers. So she jumped into fire and died at that day (the 24th in the sixth lunar month). People felt very sad and held the festival for her.

 A description of another origin story from a different source goes: “King Piluoge of the Yunnanzhao (a local regime in ancient China) planned to meet of the rulers other five cities in the Songming Building. He wanted to trap and burn them to death so that he could swallow up their territory. The wife of King Dengdan—a woman named Cishan—tried to persuade her husband not to go, but he refused. Then she put an iron bracelet around the arm of her husband. He went as scheduled and was burned death. Cishan identified and brought back her husband’s body according to the iron bracelet. Piluoge heard of her virtue and wanted to draw her over to his side, but Cishan closed the city gate and committed suicide. So people of Dian (an ancient name for Yunnan) burned torches to grieve over her.”

 In a folk legend, it is said that the Torch Festival stems from a time when God sent pests to destroy crops in the human world and Yi people drove them away with fire. Some people also say that the festival commemorate a fight in which ancestors defeated the Prince of the Devils by attacking them with fire. Most of the records and legends are forced interpretation. Chinese historians say the Torch Festival for praying for good harvests and came into being as a result of the poor harvests by the ancient Yi society. Over the years the religious elements of the festival have diminished and the entertainment value has increased.

Yi Torch Festival

The Yi Torch festival. features courtship rituals, music, dancing around huge bonfires and bloodless bullfights. In the daytime, a ceremony is held to offer prayers to the gods or spirits associated with their lives. Prayers to earth God are made with chicken blood. After sunset, people light torches to send the gods backs. One Yi told Smithsonian magazine, “The celebration is all bustle and excitement. We slaughter goats and chickens, drink liquor, sing songs and dance, We also invite our best friends to a big feast.”

 The Torch Festival is celebrated on the 24th day of 6th lunar month in July or August in southwest China by the Bai, Naxi and Yi people. Participants light torches in front of their houses and set 35-foot-high torches—made from pine and cypress timbers stuffed with smaller branches—in their village squares. The Bulang, Wa, Lisu, Lahu, Hani and Jinuo minorities hold similar festivals but on different dates.

 “The Torch Festival” has traditionally been celebrated by many Chinese ethnic groups around 24th day of the sixth lunar month. During the festival, Yis in all villages carry torches and walk around their houses and fields, and plant pine torches on field ridges in the hope of driving away insect pests. After making their rounds, the Yi villagers gather around bonfires, playing moon guitars (a four-stringed plucked instrument with a moon-shaped sound box) and mouth organs, dancing and drinking wine through the night to pray for a good harvest. The Yis in some places stage horse races, bull fighting, playing on the swing, archery and wrestling.

 The Yi Torch Festival is held at different times among different Yi groups. It is generally held on about 24th of the sixth lunar month in Sichuan and Yunnan, and about the 6th of the sixth lunar month in the Guizhou Yi region. The length of the celebration varies from three to seven days. When it comes, some people butcher chicken and pig, and some butcher cattle and sheep as sacrifices offered to the ruler of heaven, the mother of earth and ancestors. The Yi also pray for the safety of humans and domestic animals and for an abundant harvest of all food crops. At nightfall, torches are lit and villages compete to have the best torch. Recreational, sports and entertaining activities include antiphonal singing (alternate singing by two choirs or singers), dancing, bullfight, horse race, wrestling, archery, and tug-of-wars. Business and trade activities are carried out.

 Because Yi people believe that torches get rid of evil and ghosts, they light up every corner of their house after the torch is lit. In some villages, torch teams go from house to house, and then gather at the edge of a village, or on slope or in fields to play torch games and hold a fire party, where young men and women decked out in their finest festival dress sing and dance and party all night long. An ancient poem describing proceeding centuries ago goes: “The mountain seems wrapped by rosy cloud; Uneven torches move back and forth with people which are like ten thousand of lotus flowers blossoming in mirage, and stars all over the sky fall down to the human world.”

 The festival honors a woman who leaped into a fire rather make love with a king. Before the village torch is lit people gather around it and drink rice wine. The village elders use a ladder to climb to the top of the torch as they distribute fruit and food to the villagers while they boisterously sing the “Torch Festival Song.” The torch is then solemnly lit. The villagers light their torches off the village torch and sing and dance and eventually make their ways to their homes and light the torches there.

1.Time Music Bars(时光音乐酒吧)

Tel：0872-3117036

Address:Xiangyao Road, Xiangyun County

2.Feilengcui Red Wine Bar（翡冷翠红酒庄）

Address:At East ofQing lian Canteen,Wenyuan Road,Xiangyun County

3.Laiman Wine Bar(莱曼酒吧)

Tel：0872-3997119

Address:Gate No.9,YangguangCheng,Caifu Road,Xiangyun County

4.Tonghua KTV（童话KTV）

Tel：0872-3128108

Address:No.95,Longxiang Road,Xiangchen County

5.Taoran Tea Bar（陶然茶轩）

Tel：13987294186

Address:Next to Longxiang Hotel,Longxiang Road,Xiangyun County

Name：Jianianhua KTV(嘉年华KTV)

Tel:0872-8399999

Address：AroundJianning Road,Midu County,Dali

Name：Hebian KTV(河边KTV)

Tel：13208720711

Address：Huaxing Shopping Hall，Around Xihua Road,Midu County,Dali

Name：Xianyunju Tea House(闲云居茶楼)

Address：No.33，Jianning Road,Midu County,Dali

Name：Wozaimidu Bar(我在弥渡酒吧)

Address：Huaxing Shopping Hall，Around Xihua Road,Midu County,Dali

Name：Liuqing Tea Bar(柳青茶舍)

Address：No.148，Jianning Road,Midu County,Dali

Mizhi is dubbed as the “Hometown of Huadeng opera”. Many places of Yunnan have kept the tradition to perform Huadeng opera, such as Kunming, Yuxi and Yao’an. During the Chinese Lunar New Year Festival, locals here spend their own carnival-Huadeng Festival, which is pretty similar to a temple fair on which a sea of people can be seen playing, shopping, singing and dancing.

In fact, many local love songs, especially the Bai’ ethnic’s of Dali, can be heard in the movie The Children of Five Golden Flowers shot in 1990 and starred by Wang Chang’e and Chen Tianlu. If you have ever watched the Five Golden Flowers (shot in 1959) starred by Yang Likun or The Children of Five Golden Flowers, you can imagine the scene though The Rippling Brook doesn’t match a movie yet. In both movies, the shooting locations of which are mainly the Er’hai Lake and Bai ethnic villages around, most love songs are sung in an antiphonal way.

Mizhi Old Town in Midu County,Dali

When travelling in Yunnan province, many people are impressed by the melody of the Bai ethnic love song: The Rippling Brook or “xiao he tang shui” in Chinese. Maybe the song has been given several alien names outside China, but you must be familiar with its rhyme. People do like it just because it is indigenous to Dali.

Countless ethnic songs have been created in recent decades to publicise the ethnic culture of the entire province. There are at least two I like best: one is The Rippling Brook; the other one is The Children of Five Golden Flowers. The Rippling Brook originally circulated in Mizhi, a small town in Midu County, Dali, where you can see the quaint Bai ethnic compounds standing next to each other. Now, it is one of the most-enjoyed folk songs in Yunnan.

Compared with other famous ancient towns and villages, Mizhi I think is a good place to escape from the dull and hustling concrete world. Villages with tile-roofed houses, lucid springs, and farmlands overgrown with coles in spring are what the town features. This town is a small basin nestling among mountains. Rustic as it is, it was once an important station on the Ancient Tea-Horse Trail from the south of Yunnan to the far northwestern Tibet.

Wensheng Street is the most historic part here. 700 metres long, it was renamed “Wen Sheng Jie” street in the 21st year (1932) of the Republic of China (1912-1949). Early in the Tang Dynasty, a journey starting from here could be connected to Kunming, Sichuan and Chang’an (nowadays Xi’an).

Walking along the street, you will see a natural limpid spring where former horse caravans are said to stop to quench thirst. Locals call it Pearl Spring because the bubbles vividly resemble to strings of real pearls gushing from the bottom. The water of the spring is usually fetched by the locals for cooking, and interestingly, many restaurants in this area serve Tofu dishes cooked with the water.

Beside the spring is a riverlet called Yaxihe River. This small river originates from Guihuaqing Valley (Osmanthus Valley) at the foot of Taiji Mountain, 15 km from the local council. The valley gives off tangy smell of Osmanthus fragrance, and attracts swarms of bees and butterflies to collect pollen in blooming season. The oldest Osmanthus tree here is said to be planted in 1796, and locals believe they’ll get good lucks after “cuddling” it.

The archaised former residence of Mr Yi Yigong, the versatile composer of The Rippling River, born in 1924, is also located near the street. As Yi Yigong recalled, when he was composing one night in 1947, a local melody of Mizhi reminded him of the moon, mountains, forests, breeze and winding rivers of his hometown. No wonder he gave a moon-related name to his masterpiece at the beginning, because I guess he was then somewhat homesick.

19 km from the local council is Taiji Mountain, with the summit being 3,064 meters above sea level. It is the most famous site of Mizhi, including up to 23 temples, halls and shrines of different sizes. It is also said to be the refuge of Xi Nuluo who was the founder of the Nanzhao Kingdom (738-937) in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Ascending to the peak rewards escalated views of the landscapes around and flaming sunrise in the morning.