Paper Village, Weaving Village and "Night Market".
- Laos Travelogue No. 2
Written by Zhang Chongfa
On the afternoon of November 24, at 5:30 local time, it was already dark in Luang Prabang. The tour guide took us as a group of 12 people to visit the "Night Market" in Luang Prabang.
On both sides of the street, there are stalls selling all kinds of Lao handicrafts, local products, and Lao food.
We walked along the street, looking as we went, and when we saw something distinctive, we asked for the price.
Due to the language barrier, the tour guide was not by my side, so I couldn't bargain, so I didn't buy small items such as souvenirs, but only bought a few catties of tropical fruits.
My wife is very fond of handbags and scarves handmade by Laotians, some members like folding fans, beads, wood carvings, lanterns, and I like folk paintings and books made of local paper.
Unfortunately, the general process is simple, the production is rough, and the ** is high, and everyone sees more than buys.
The food street is very narrow, and the vendors on both sides are constantly shouting and soliciting customers, and the crowd is full of people. Barbecue stalls, fried food stalls, rice noodle buffet stalls, business is very hot, yellow-haired, blue-eyed young people in Europe and the United States, men and women, have bought and tasted.
But Chinese tourists don't like these foods that they often come into contact with in China, and few people care about them.
On the afternoon of the 25th, we visited Luang Prabang's distinctive papermaking village and weaving village, which opened our eyes.
Here, the ancient folk papermaking method is still used to make paper, and the most striking thing is that the paper with flower patterns is made with freshly picked flower petals and leaves.
According to her own ideas, the female workers arrange the petals and leaves into the pulp in a regular manner, and when the moisture is controlled and dry, they take them out and let them dry in the sun. When it dries and is removed, it becomes a piece of paper with a pattern. The pattern of each sheet of paper is different, and tens of thousands of sheets are not repeated.
Weaving cloth is also the most primitive, starting from silkworm raising, pumping silk, spinning, dyeing, and putting it on the loom, step by step. However, dyeing is pure and natural, without the use of chemical pigments, and all kinds of plant flowers, stems, roots and fruits are used.
Under the four legs of the silkworm bed, there are four vessels with water, and we can't figure it out. The worker told him that if the water container was placed, the ants on the ground would not be able to climb on the silkworm bed, and all of them would fall into the water and drown. I secretly admire the wisdom of the people in my heart!
When paper and cloth are made, they are further processed in their own workshops - paper bags, lanterns, folding fans, and picture albumsMake scarves, shawls, and skirts. Then hang it in your own shop**.
Visiting these two villages brought our minds back to the era of handicraft workshops before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, some members of the group said that Laos still uses the primitive way of production, which is too backward!
But I don't see it that way. In my opinion, this is not called backwardness, this is the inheritance of Laos's ancient history and culture!
Without these people, we would never have seen the ancient art of papermaking and the ancient weaving technique again.
Just think about it, who will raise silkworms among the children in China now?Where do mulberry leaves grow?How to keep mulberry leaves fresh and tender?Which kid knows?
So, I was thinking while visiting:
To revitalize the rural areas in our country, we should vigorously advocate the development of rural tourism in places where conditions permit. Rural tourism, on the one hand, should show urban tourists the use of modern soilless cultivation technology, in the factory workshop production of melons, fruits, vegetables, but also to collect the original production and daily necessities of farmers around 1949, with old looms, spinning wheels, stone mills, stove boxes, fan windmills on the wheat field, etc., to show the traditional farming culture that has disappeared for many years. Let the young people of the new era understand the history of China's rural areas and learn Xi valuable spirit of farmers who start a business in hardship and work hard in poverty.
About the Author:Zhang Chongfa, born in 1945, was a full-time news cadre of the "Brothers-in-Arms Daily" and the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Military Region, and worked in the "China Introduction Daily" for 10 years after changing jobs. He is a member of the China Folk Literature and Art Association, a member of the Chinese Character Copyright Association, a winner of the honorary certificate of "Old Journalist" of the All-China Journalists Association, a chief reporter, a national first-class screenwriter, a senior tourism culture researcher, engaged in news writing for 20 years, engaged in tourism culture research for 20 years, and published more than 20 books such as "Interesting Facts of Chinese Places of Interest and Historic Sites" (upper and lower volumes), "Legends of Chinese Famous Places and Historic Sites" (upper and lower volumes), "The Legendary Life of General Dong Qiwu" and so on.