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Night scene of Bamei Village
Bamei Village is located in the northern of Guangnan County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province. As this village is surrounded by mountains in the four directions, it still has no road to get touch with the outside world. If you want to get in and out of Bamei, you have to take boats and get through the two caves that are gateways to the village.
The giant cave that you have to get through before getting into Bamei Village is called Tanhua Cave. For most people the experience by boat is quite special. Before the boat get in the cave, you will see numerous stalagmites hanging on the mount of the cave and many swallows that hovering around. At first you can see lights and hear voices of the outside world. After a few minutes, lights and noises almost disappear. You cannot see anything, and you can only hear the trickling and dripping of water and whisper of swallows. You may feel unsettled in the dark sight as you do not know when you will reach the outside bright world. But when you come to the exit of the cave and are suddenly enlightened to the bright outside, that kind of excitement would get you high. The surprise to find the beautiful village would linger a long time.
The beauty of Bamei lies in its natural and poetic scenery. The magnificent mountains standing around, the peculiar geography, green forests, ancient trees, and clear winding rivers decorated by extended farmlands, water wheels, flying swallows, sheep and cows. Even these are simple common elements of a village, they have bring us a distinctive and poetic village. Especially when it is spring, when there are pink peach blossoms, white pear blossoms and bright yellow rape flowers in full bloom, Bamei has its most enchanting scenery all the year.
When in Bamei, you will see the unique winding river in the village. It is divided into two branches by a small island when it runs through the village and merges into a river when it comes to the end of the village. Local people call the left branch “men’s river” and only men are allowed to shower there. And the branch on the right side is “women’s river”, women are privileged to use this branch.
The most ancient tree in Bamei Village
Bamei is actually a village resided by Zhuang people. Their ancestors came here because of war reasons in ancient times and settled down. People there still remain their traditional culture and customs. They still live in their special built houses, dress their ethnic customs, and celebrate traditional holidays and customs. This strong ethnic flavors has added some more fun and mysteries to Bamei.
Inspiring tour packages to Yunnan are found at:
http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/Colorful-Yunan-6-Days-Tour-685.html
http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/Kunming-Dali-Lijiang-Shangrila-Kunming-8-Days-Train-Tour-202.html