Betelnut Valley

4 min read

Betelnut Valley truly is an unspoiled land.It is located at Ganza Ridge between Sanya City and Baoting Li and Miao Nationality Autonomous County.It belongs to national natural reserve and covers an area of 34 hectares.About 28 kilometers far away from Sanya City，Betelnut Valley is listed as 4A-ratednational tourism scenic spot.Here you can enjoy the natural views like green hills with clear streams，fragrant flowers with twittered birds as well as hundreds-year-old betelnut forests with fresh air.No wonder people regard this place as a natural oxygen bar and the gene bank of natural species.

Please look at the huge entrance gate with man-like patterns，which has a height of 11.9 meters with a width of 29 meters.It is regarded as the”First Gate of Li Nationality”.On both sides of the gate，there are two totem poles carved with totems of animals and plants adored by the natives，which symbolize good luck，happiness，good weather for crops as well as good harvest.The patterns of”Hercules”on both sides of the gate are the local people’s spiritual embodiment symbolizing their diligence，bravery，selflessness and pursuit for a better life.The cow-head totem in the middle symbolizes the wealth and power as well as nice blessings to the guests.

Everybody, please follow me to enter Betelnut Valley. Coming to Li village,ld like to teach you a common gesture to say hello. Put your right hand in front of your chest about 10-15 centimeters and turn up your thumb, then say “Boo-long”, which means betelnut in Li language. In happy occasions like greetings, weddings and festivals, people always use betelnut as gifts with nice blessings. Thumbs-up means sincerity and friendship. No matter old or young, everyone here is used to eating betelnut, which has already become an important part in their lives and a unique ethnic culture. For this reason, there goes an old saying that”coconut represents Hainan while betelnut represents Li people” About 3,000 years ago, there was a minority called “Luo Yue”, which was a branch of southern “Bai Yue”. In order to get away from wars, Luo Yue people traveled far away across the sea to get to this isolated island. These people were the earliest residents in Hainan. Today in Betelnut Valley we are going to visit their offspring-Li people. At present, with a population of over 1,300 thousand, Li people mainly live in the mountain areas of south-central Hainan. Thousands of years passed, and living in this beautiful land with theirintelligence and diligence from generation to generation, Li people have created colorful, unique ethnic material culture and spiritual culture. And Betelnut Valley is an epitome of the glorious cultures.

At presentI’ d like to introduce some customs of Li people to you. They have their own language but no written words up to now. In the past, the Li girls had the custom of tattooing the body and face. It is for four reasons. Firstly, it can make them beautiful so as to attract the boys. Secondly, it can show their identity. Thirdly, it is to avoid being kidnapped by Han people. Fourthly, they would only be accepted by ancestors with that tattoo after death. Here, you will be so lucky to visit the last generation of tattooed ladies.

In Li Totem Art Gallery, there is a picture describing the festival San-Yue-San of Li nationality. Every Chinese lunar March 3rd is the most important festival of Li people.A moving love story says that long long ago, human beings suffered from a deadly flood.A young man and a young lady hid into a giant gourd and flowed all the way up to Hainan. On March 3rd, they sang and expressed their love to each other. Then they got married and started creatinglives. For this reason, their offspring Li people got used to commemorating the ancestors’ great marriage and huge contribution of creating lives on every lunar March 3rd in many different ways. At the same time, this is also a special day for young boys and girls to meet their love. With beautiful flowers and ripebetelnut all over the mountain, both boys and girls will wear their best clothes and bring with them Shanlan wine, bamboo rice and zongzi. Then they get together from all the villages to worship ancestors and celebrate wonderful life. When the night comes, the youth will sing, express love and give presents to each other. In other words, it’s a dating night.

During so many years of hard working, Li people have created exquisite spinning skills. Li Brocade is so marvelous and incredible that the outstanding spinner Huang Daopo learned about it from Li ladies. After that, Huang created an advanced system of cotton spinning as well as spinning instruments, which were spread wildly along the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River.

Ihave been talking so much. At present, do you want to try something exciting? Ziplining would be your top option. When you’ re traveling through in the air,a professional photographer will capture your best moments. They are wonderful souvenirs.

Dear friends, next we are going to visit the offspring of Chiyou-Miao nationality. People believed that Chiyou was the ancestor of minority “Bai Yue”and an extremely powerful leader who lived near the coastal reaches of the Yellow River. Thousands of years passed, and the offspring of Chiyou have inherited his spirit of being tough and brave. Here, you will see their oldestsacrificing activity in the jungle-climbing a mountain of swords or plunginginto a sea of flames. How exciting! In the Miao village, you’ ll get your hearta real baptism. Everything will make you fully impressed!

Wonderful times are always short.After all of these，it is time to leave.Let’s get on the bus and say goodbye to the hospitable Li and Miao people！