A trip to the Nationalities Village

We recently had a few days of gorgeous sunshine and 70 degree weather, so we decided to take advantage of the break from the rain and go with some coworkers to the city's Nationalities Village. It's a very large exhibition where each of the 26 different ethnic minority groups present in this area display their culture, housing, customs, and wares.

We decided to rent a four man bike so we could cover more ground, which was an adventure in itself! We attached the stroller to the back and all four of us adults were holding a kid and peddling...man did we draw some attention! You'd have thought we were the main event! Everywhere we went, people would stop taking pictures of the attractions to take pictures and videos of us. So we officially dubbed ourselves the "yee-haw village" on wheels. :)

Anyway, the scenery was beautiful--lakes, mountains, grass, and trees--the most green I've seen since we've been here!

One of our first stops was an elephant show. It was fun watching the elephants do tricks, but the highlight was after the show, when we were able to pet them and let the kids feed them green bananas.

I even got brave and had my picture taken on one!

After the show, we moved on to some of the village displays. In one of the exhibits, we went into a hut where we were able to sample some rice bread cooked over hot coals by one of the minority ladies.

Another village had a music show, and another was demonstrating a cultural dance. One thing we noticed in all of the exhibits was the strong religious symbolism; each one had statues, altars, prayer flags, a temple, or some other religious element. It is definitely a big part of their lives.

It was fascinating to seeing all the different types of people, cultures, and customs throughout the day. Each group is so interesting and unique.

We're looking forward to learn-ing more about these mi-nority groups and visiting some of the villages that are in the surrounding areas outside the city. And hopefully one day we'll be able to live in one of those villages...