Aizhai Town, Jishou City, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province

Aizhai town

Aizhai town is located in the west of Jishou City, Xiangxi Prefecture, Hunan Province, 20 kilometers away from the urban area. The town government is stationed in Aizhai. National Highway 319 crosses the Northeast obliquely. In 1950, it belonged to the second district. In 1956, it set up Aizhai township. In 1958, it set up upstream commune. In 1984, it restored the township. In 1986, it set up town. At the end of March 2012, the Aizhai super large suspension bridge, located in Aizhai Town, Xiangxi, was officially opened to traffic. The Aizhai town after adjustment in 2015 has 21 villages, including zhanla, Deru, Daxing, Liantuan, Xiaoxing, Jinye, Yangmeng, paixiong, Xingfu, family, CHABI, Dezhen, Zhonghuang, Yanke, Pingnian, Jilong, Xinxi, Pinglang, painai, Budian and Shuer, and two communities, Jianxin and Aizhai, with a total area of 142.27 square kilometers and a total population of 18458 people (2017) Change (in Aizhai community).

geographical conditions

Aizhai town is located in the west gate of Jishou, the capital of Xiangxi Prefecture, 19 kilometers away from the urban area. National highways 319 and 209 and Changyu Expressway pass through the town. It is a mountainous ecological town, cultural town and tourism town with Miao population as the main population. It has jurisdiction over 16 villages, 1 community and 1 neighborhood committee, 55 natural villages and 69 villager groups, with a total population of 18458 people (2017). It is surrounded by DALONGDONG scenic spot, gumiao River scenic spot, border town scenic spot and Ludong mountain scenic spot. In the territory, there are pioneer bronze statues, national scenic spot Dehang folk custom garden. It is also famous, magnificent and the first overpass in China. It is the central name of Zhangjiajie Mengdong River Jishou Fenghuang great Xiangxi Tourism Golden line Town is a new tourism hot spot in Southwest China, known as the Pearl town of Wuling mountain area. Aizhai, a world depicted by green water and green mountains, is full of simple and strong ethnic customs and flickers with remote and unique ethnic culture.

History and culture

Red history

There is a family village in Aizhai Town, Jishou City, which is more than 700 meters above sea level. It is different in that a small village actually has four city gates (ruins). The city gate in the South was still in the 1980s. The local villagers said: "when a family marries a daughter, the cupboard is too big to pass the city gate, so they have to dismantle the city gate." Cultural relic experts said that this is a site of Anti Japanese war. When a strong family village was built, it was the Xiangchuan highway connecting the southwest rear area. During the eight years of Anti Japanese War, Xiangchuan highway was the only channel connecting the Guangdong Han and Hunan Guangxi railways to the southwest rear area. The middle section of Xiangchuan highway traversed the whole area of Western Hunan. Its aizhaipo section was located in the west of Aizhai Town, Jishou City. The west gate wall and enemy platform of the family village were just opposite to Aizhai highway. In 1938, in order to protect the aizhaipo section of Xiangchuan highway, general Zhang Zhizhong, then chairman of Hunan Province of the national government, dispatched Chen Yimou to build fortifications here. Chen Yimou built four gates in the East, South, West and north of the family village opposite aizhaipo, and built a city wall around the family village. He used the labor of nearly ten villages.

Characteristic culture

Colorful sports culture

Aizhai is not only the gateway of Jishou, the capital of Xiangxi Prefecture, but also the frontier of western development. It is also the fertile soil of Miao sports culture. It has been awarded by the National Committee for democracy and people's livelihood, the Ministry of culture and the National Sports Bureau as the national advanced township for fitness activities of hundreds of millions of farmers, the national advanced unit for mass sports and the hometown of Chinese folk arts, the hometown of inspiration. for a long time, the Miao people in Aizhai have shared weal and woe, created a splendid national sports culture, and formed excellent national folk arts with basketball competition as the theme, including Miao drum, Miao song, Nuo opera, lion dance, ladder and so on, making this ancient land colorful and charming. In 1986, Aizhai successfully held the farmers' games in the border areas of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou provinces, and selected a basketball team to participate in the game and won the championship. In 2000, China Mobile cup of Xiangxi Prefecture and Aizhai Miao people's "100 baskets and 100 lions" meeting were successfully held for the first time. In September 2002, the "Xiangjiugui Cup" international rock climbing competition and China's "Miao Drum Festival" were held in Dehang, Xiangxi, China. "Chinese Drum Culture Festival" was held in June 2005. In July 2007, the first "sports lottery Cup" Xiangxi Peasant Games was successfully held. In addition, there are also many traditional and important festivals with national characteristics, such as "lion dance in the first month", "March 3", "April 8", "Autumn Festival" and "Double Ninth Festival", which make Aizhai the Pearl of Wuling more and more brilliant.

National unity has a long history

Located in the western border of Jishou City, Aizhai is a typical triangle with Miliang township of Fenghuang County, Dalong Township, paibi Township and Pailiao township of Huayuan County, and tamping township of Baojing County. For the sake of national unity and social stability, Aizhai, under the care of the party's national policy, regularly carries out a variety of Miao activities to promote the friendship and unity of the surrounding ethnic groups. The hardworking and kind-hearted Miao people are good at singing and dancing every traditional festival, such as "Spring Festival lion Club", "March 3", "April 8", "Autumn Festival", "Double Ninth Festival", etc., and every week, such as Huayuan, Fenghuang, Baojing, etc The Miao people in the neighboring counties of bianyou, dressed in costumes, invited friends to join them and flocked to Aizhai. The singing, laughing and bustling made Aizhai present a scene of national unity, social stability and economic prosperity. At the same time, aiming at the problems of ethnic convergence and social complexity, Aizhai town has paid special attention to the comprehensive management, stability maintenance and contradiction mediation of surrounding towns. In 1996, Aizhai town organized the first meeting of friendship, joint defense and joint governance among four counties, nine townships, and signed an agreement on joint defense and joint governance. In 1998, the person in charge of Aizhai town organized a visit to paibi, Pailiao, Dalong, tamping sand, Miliang and other towns to strengthen contact and exchange experience, creating favorable conditions for the prosperity and stability of border villages. In recent years, through vigorously carrying out joint defense and joint mediation, the investigation and mediation rate of contradictions and disputes has reached 100%. There has been no influential group event, and the surrounding friends and neighbors have flourished with a strong wind of harmony.

Characteristics of Customs

Clothes & Accessories

Miao's men's clothes are simple, while women's clothes are prosperous. The front of the chest, cuffs and trouser legs should be hemmed, embroidered or drawn, and the railings and petals should be added between them. Men's and women's heads are wrapped in green handkerchiefs, which are stacked in layers, as big as a hat, and have the beauty of autumn chrysanthemum. The head flower, silver cap, silver horn, pressed collar, silver shawl and all kinds of silver collar in Miao jewelry are exquisite and various.

live

Affected by the natural and climatic conditions, the Miao people in Aizhai like to live in stilted buildings, which are all wood structures of "dry fence type". The ground floor is used as livestock house or other living facilities, such as farm tools and stone mills, and people live on the top floor. Corridors are laid around the building, square windows are decorated with checkered patterns with wooden strips, the eaves are upward with fish tails, and the selection of the house foundation attaches great importance to the "dragon vein" trend and geographical momentum.

song and dance

Although the people of Aizhai live in a hard natural environment, they have been optimistic and open-minded for generations. The most typical example is that he is good at singing and dancing. His Miao drum songs, labor songs, gongs and drums songs, folk songs and Muye love songs are all improvised, eloquent, ingenious and full of strong local flavor. The well-known Miao drum dance, lantern dance, etc. are full of mass, with light melody, primitive and simple movements, giving people a pleasant feeling.

diet

Aizhai people use corn, potato, beans, rice and other main raw materials to produce distinctive food of different styles. Mung bean powder, rape soup, fermented bean curd, vinegar pepper, buckwheat bean flower, sweet potato powder, dried cowpea and other delicious color; rice wine, Baogu wine and other lingering charm; Gaoshan Jinqiu pear, bacon, pickles, salt vegetables and other green food are amazing, making Aizhai a food paradise.

Entertainment

Aizhai people are good at playing trombone, playing gongs and drums, lion dance and martial arts. They often carry out lion dance, Lusheng dance, vertebral cattle dance, walking on the knife ladder, twisting Yangko and other activities. They enjoy folk entertainment such as eight people autumn, lantern dance, Nuo opera, grass group dance and flower drum dance. They also have colorful competitive activities such as dragging fireworks, stepping on big plow, kicking spring and playing basketball.

Marriage funeral

The marriage and love in Aizhai is full of the color of free love. Meanwhile, it also contains the solemn traditional habits of matchmaker, such as proposing, asking for Geng, sending time, getting together, singing to each other and catching up with "side by side" and so on. The process of marriage and love is both rigorous and natural. Funerals, on the other hand, have a strong regional color. From sending off the dead, reporting for the dead, entering the coffin, running a "Daochang", singing filial piety songs and summoning souls, to dancing, mourning and burying all embody the folk customs of transcending the spirits of the dead.

Production and life

The people of Aizhai are hardworking and brave. They work by hand and carry loads on their shoulders. Most of the production tools are self-made. Up to now, the original tools such as stone mill, water mill, drum car and windmill are still preserved. Unity and cooperation in production, the production of rice seedlings gongs and drums is a kind of collective labor. In life, hospitality, hospitality and seeing off are simple and strong. He entertained and offered wine to the guests by blocking the door of the Miao family, sending them off with lights, firing guns, and offering first-class meals. He kept the guests a thousand words and sincere feelings. He saw them off one after another and made the best of the friendship of the host. In their spare time, women make cloth shoes and embroider insoles, while men go up to the mountains to hunt.

Handmade products

The people of Aizhai are skillful, exquisite and elegant in bamboo and rattan weaving, small and exquisite in wooden utensils, rich and colorful in brocade, embroidery and batik, and elegant in wood carving, stone carving and wood carving. A wide range of commodities are the crystallization of the wisdom of the people of Aizhai.

development strategy

"We should give full play to the brand effect of Aizhai super large suspension bridge and create road and bridge culture and folk culture. Take Aizhai as the center, integrate three tourist scenic lines from Aizhai to Jishou, from Aizhai to Dehang, and from Aizhai to DALONGDONG. With strategic vision, high starting point, high standard, large regional planning, create new highlights, highlight new characteristics, seek new hot spots, cultivate new growth points, and promote tourism resources strategy

Chinese PinYin : Hu Nan Sheng Xiang Xi Tu Jia Zu Miao Zu Zi Zhi Zhou Ji Shou Shi Ai Zhai Zhen