A brief Introduction to Folk-custom Tourism Culture in the Three Gorges Area

　　The distributions of folk-custom tourism cultural resources in the Three Gorges Area are very wide. It includes almost every area and every lay of Three Gorges ancestors’ life. And it displays through psychological, lingual and behavioral ways. Its existence and display forms can be divided into following aspects:

　　Material Folk-custom Tourism Culture

　　A. Costume Folk-custom

　　Costume folk-custom refers to the custom and habits formed in dressing, such as clothes, shoes, hats, adorners and ornaments. Since the ancient time, the Three Gorges Area is a mixed place where the Han People, Tujia People and Miao People live together. Their costume culture is very bright and colorful; among them the costume of Tujia People is especially prominent. The Tujia People are very careful in choosing dressing, and pay much attention to the practicality. The Tujia People in Eastern Hubei Province usually wrap Mantoupu scarf on their heads. Such wrapping is to pull a cloth with six feet in length and eight inches in width over their heads, the cloth behind covering the neck, and the other end is to wrap the head from right to left. Such kind of wrapping can protect the head and scruff and prevent dusts while carrying things on back. The “Lushui (Dew) Clothes” worn by bride on the way of marriage ceremony can be considered as marvelous clothes. This kind of clothes consists of a coat, trousers and skirt. The coat has wide collars, wide sleeves, and wide hems. The lower parts of the trousers are wide and short. The skirt is a kind of pleated one. The shoes are embroidered shoes, which are also called “Lushui (Dew) Shoes”. Besides, the brides also wear some shiny and silvery adornments such as hairpins, earrings, and bracelets.

　　B. Diet Folk-custom

　　People of the Three Gorges Area, living in deep and wide valleys generation after generation, plant crops, in addition they also achieve all edible food giving by nature from big mountains, precipices and rapids and dongas. All of this food provides rich and colorful materials for the producing of many different kinds of unique dishes and snacks. The Three Gorges Area is the mixed zone of Ba-Chu Culture; therefore, here forms a diet custom combining the habits of Jing-Chu Plain and Daba mountain region. The dishes here combine the characters of Sichuan Food and Hubei Food into one, having all the five tastes-sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and hot, and moderately salty.

　　The habitants in the Three Gorges Area, especially the people in mixed villages of Tujia People and Miao People, have special favorites in some easily produced and preserved food and fast eaten food, such as spirits, Guanguan (Pot) Tea, preserved ham, smoked sausage, pickles, pickled vegetable, raw bean curd, ect. The taste of the people in mountain areas, especially the Tujia People, is a bit sour and spicy. “Youchatang (Oil Tea Soup)” is a special food of Tujia people’s diet custom. “Youchatang (Oil Tea Soup) is savory. Every day three bowls at three meals, having a good spirit while working”. It is very particular with color, smelling, taste and container.

　　There are many kinds of salted food in the Three Gorges Area, such as salted meat, salted eggs, hot pickled mustard green, preserved bean-curd and soyabean chilli, all of these can be tasted everywhere. Both of preserved bean curd in Zhongzhou County and hot pickled mustard green in Fuling City are very popular at home and abroad. The first feature of the hot pots in the Three Gorges Area is the different kinds of food with a wide choice of materials. Second feature is the unique flavors. The cooking of hot-pots pays much attention to flavors, taking the spicy food for example, the food should be spicily enough for taste. The more people eat, the more they want.

　　C. Inhabitation Folk-custom in the Three Gorges Area

　　There are great differences in geographical environment, such as climate, wind power, temperature and rainfall in the Three Gorges Area, in addition, the economic development is also imbalanced, and therefore, the habits of residence are also different. The living houses of the Han People are mainly the traditional one principle hall and two wings buildings with red walls and black tiles. Such kind of house always has a small courtyard in front of the house for drying grains and other sundries and an enclosure for confining livestock behind. Each house is separated from another by the surrounding trees and then forms a semi-closing area. The living houses of Tujia People are mainly Diaojiaolou (houses projecting over the slope or water) styles, which combine both the Xishuangbanna building style and Central Plains yard building style together. They are the perfect combination of central plains yard building style and southwest Ganlan building style. The forms of Diaojiaolou are different, such as the “Tunkou House” style, just like a tiger lying in its cave, and Ganlan building style. The commonly seen Diaojiaolou is a two-storey building standing on four huge wood poles forming a frame along the slope. And then put on timbers at the horizontal level, next cover some boards. The pattern of the above layout is one principle room with two-wing rooms. The principle room is also called “living room” used for meeting guests, taking a rest and having meals. The wings are used as kitchen, fireplace and bedroom. The house below is used for placing farm implements and something like that and breeding livestock.

　　Folk-custom Tourism Culture

　　A. Marriage Customs

　　The Tujia People have a faith of “No weeping, no flourishing.” Weeping aims at flourishing. Therefore, the girls must weep when they get married. Kujia (weeping before marriage) has its own songs. The more attractive the weeping is, the more moved it would become, and the more praises the girl would gain from others. Kujia is a traditional skill. The girl who is good at weeping can weep for a whole month without repeating the same content. She should weep for her ancestors, for her parents, for her brothers and sisters, for matchmaker and for herself. The climax is the wedding. The day before all relatives and friends come to celebrate and weep for farewell. The bride has to invite nine good friends to accompany her weeping. This is called “accompanying ten sisters”. The weeping songs for relatives and friends are to express kindness, politeness, and the wishes and longings for future.

　　B. Funeral Custom

　　Suspended coffin is a special way to bury the dead in several minorities, such as Tujia nationality and Miao nationality. Because the form of the coffin is just like a boat, therefore, it is also called “boat-coffin burial”. Most of them are placed on precipitous ridges, steps or in caves of dangerous cliffs. The Tujia People like to dance “Sa’erhe” (dance funeral dance, beat funeral drum) during the funeral rites. Accompany the dead happily and hold the funeral rites lively. The people in Shennongjia Forestry Region also hold “Tasang (mourning)” activity, which is so grave and solemn that it moves people deeply.

　　C. Festival Customs

　　In Dragon-boat Festival, that is, the fifth day of May according to Chinese lunar calendar, every family should hang the branch of mugwort and sweet sedge at their doors. As it goes that the branch of mugwort can avoid evil and kill demon. The people in many places would eat zongzi (dumplings made of glutinous rice) and hold dragon boat racing activities. Besides, every family should paste the picture of Zhong Kui (who can catch evil ghosts) on the door and children have to wear aromatic bags and bellyband binders with embroidered tigers on them. “Niuwang Jie (The King of Cattle Festival)” is one of the festivals for the Tujia People. It is on the eighth day of April according to Chinese lunar calendar. On this day, people will hold a rite to sacrifice the king of cattle. “Daughter Festival” is an old festival kept down by Tujia women in the eastern part of Hubei Province. Every year, on the fifth day of May or the twelfth day of July or the fifteenth day of August, people will gather together. On these days, young people can talk with each other freely and sing songs to express love to each other. Every year, the “Daughter Festival” is the most exciting days in village.

　　D. Entertainment Customs

　　The Three Gorges Area is located between Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality; therefore, the two cultures (Chu Culture and Ba Culture) take each one’s advantages for reference and penetrate with each other. Finally it formed the unique folk entertainment customs, which mainly contain dragon boat racing, Caigaoqiao (a kind of amusement), Lion Dance, Bandeng (bench) Dance, Baishou (waving arms) Dance, Sa’erhe (drumming for mourning), Huaguxi (flower-drum shows), shadow plays, puppet shows, Liangshan lantern shows, Three Gorges Lianxiao(a kind of music instrument), boat tracker songs, boatman work songs, pushing and deflecting songs, gaoqiang folk songs, herding cattle songs, chopping wood songs, riddle songs, huagan duiju and many other folk songs. Dragon boat song, a Lichuan folk song, has been sung through out the world and been listed one of the twenty-five world famous and excellent folk songs.

　　The Exploitation and Utilization of Folk-custom Culture Tourism in the Three Gorges Area

　　The Exploitation Principles of Folk-custom Culture Tourism Resource in the Three Gorges Area

　　The first principle is the quality of distinguishing features. The special characters of “nation” and “region”, re-show the features and styles of folk custom culture objectively should be emphasized, and create a “unique” tourist program of folk custom. During the exploitation of such tourist resources, firstly we should remain the features, that is, trying the best to keep the original flavor. Secondly we should emphasize the feature, that is, trying the best to use the special quality and regional quality of folk tourist resources. Thirdly, we should select the features, that is, to choose some monopolistic and irreplaceable resources to exploit.

　　The second principle is comprehensive exploitation. The exploitation of Three Gorges folk culture resources should be organically combined with the exploitation of other resources. The tourist outcome that produced from the combination of folk tourist culture and natural scenery and historical culture resources will have a great attraction to tourists.

　　The third principle is participation, that is to say the tourists cannot only visit the scenic spots but also can participate in many activities directly, such as participating local wedding ceremonies, staying in rural houses, eating rural meals, doing farm works and taking part in tourist athletic programs, such as dragon boat racing, boating against torrent rapids, and drifting. The exploitation and utilization of such participant folk tourism can make tourists feel personally on the scene. Besides, the visual abundance and practice abundance can be greatly increased. Therefore tourists can be highly satisfied. This participant principle can also be called dynamic exploitation of tourist resources.

　　The fourth principle is the quality of culture. Tourism culture is the soul of the development of tourism. Therefore, the folk tourism should give prominence to the character of high-grade culture, strike on the high grade exploitation and prevent the trend of low grade, “vulgarization” and excessive merchandizing.

　　The fifth principle is local flavor and primitive simplicity. During the exploitation of folk flavor tourist resources, we should show the history of the Three Gorges Area and its present characteristics as well, not only in content but also in shape, color and style. The strong primitive simplicity, which combines the inheriting of the tradition and transforming of social traditions, can make people have some psychological feelings of kindness, sincerity, simplicity, local flavor and meditating on the past. We should take proud of the “local flavor” and show the original as it is. Besides, we should avoid the “foreignization” and imitating others by all means.

　　The Exploitation and Utilization Forms of Folk-custom Culture Tourism Resources in the Three Gorges Area

　　Firstly, to choose the places with abundant folk tourist resources and set up folk tourist spots. For example, we can choose some places that have the advantage of folk culture, such as the Shennong Stream, Xiangxi Stream (Fragrant River) and Wuxi Stream, and then recover or set up ferries, revetments and build some local houses and mountain fastness with Tujia characters.

　　Secondly, to take good use of folk diet resources in the Three Gorges Area and develop tourist refreshment products. During the exploitation, we can take the strategies of showing the top quality articles, the characteristics, the connotation, and the diversification. The tourist hotels and the whole street with snacks should be a case of attracting tourists. And we should try our best to improve the grade and the functions of Three Gorges tourist diet culture.

　　Thirdly, to introduce a special tourist route of the Three Gorges folk culture and enrich tourist programs. We can take Yichang City and Chongqing Municipality both as starting points and finishing points. Along the line of the Three Gorges, we can set up museums or folk scenery spots, folk cultural villages of minorities, such as Tujia Nationality and Miao Nationality. Besides, we can connect all these folk tourist spots with different flavors into a line, and let tourists take part in the colorful tourist programs during the tourism and gain rich aesthetic feelings about tourist culture.

　　Besides, during the exploitation of folk tourist products, we should pay attention to the combinational products, such as combination of sightseeing and participation, folk culture and natural scenery, dynamic and static, having holidays and holding commercial activities. Through this way, we can show the folk culture from different aspects, and develop some tourist products with complex types and many functions of folk customs, such as holding the exhibition of folk customs, the exhibition of folk garment, the exhibition of folk art wares, holding many kinds of temple fairs and operas in folkway, song and dance performance, and collecting, tidying and publicizing folk cultural works to strengthen the cultivation of folk cultural talents. This is a direction and trend of the exploitation and utilization of folk tourist resources in the Three Gorges Area.