Betel Nut Park and Yanoda, indigenous culture

 

Near the intersection of Jiefang Road and Jixiang Street is a Uighur café, two hundred metres from our hotel.  Partitioned by a wall, this no-frill eating-house allocates one half of its space to patrons and the other half to chefs for preparation and cooking.  On the back wall of the customers’ section is a poster of Arabic words protected within a glass frame half a metre in length and a third of a metre in width.  As we are the first customers at eleven on a Sunday morning, we are uncertain of the food quality since our general rule is: if the food is good, the restaurant will be crowded. 

None the less, not inclined to dally, we pragmatically install ourselves around a vacant table.  The Uighur youth of about nineteen or twenty is prompt.  He fetches a well-used menu, and leaves us to make our choices.  Unable to read the names or descriptions of the dishes, we compare the illustrations in our table menu with the pictures on its magnified copy mounted on the dividing wall, and then place our order: two plates of fried noodles at 10 RMB each.  The portion of noodle and vegetables is substantial, although the thin strands - not slices - of mutton are few.  This immediately indicates to us that the regular customers are simple, ordinary folks, who are not fastidious consumers.

“Are you the owner?”  I pry, as the young waiter hovers around our table in anticipation of adverse or complimentary comments on the quality of his food.

“No, I am not.  I am only the cook.”

“Is he the owner?”  I point to the teenager of about sixteen with a light-reddish face that is round, fair, and Turkish in complexion.

“No.  The owner is not here.”

“Why do you come to Hainan since it is so far from Xinjiang?”

“To look for a job.”

He came to Sanya only a few years ago, the polite young lad adds.  His remark conjures in my mind a sad tale of a young teenager tearfully tearing himself from his family living on the fringe of the desolate Taklamakan Desert.  He is thin and has a non-Han face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uyghur Chinese from Xinjiang travelled 3,000 kms to Sanya to live and work
来自新疆的维吾尔族人到三亚旅行了3000公里，生活和工作

 

Learning that we hailed from Singapore, he excitedly mentions hearing of many mainland Chinese doing very well there.  He asks if we could be his job sponsor.  He is down-hearted when we tell him of our inability: sponsorship is done through companies or employers, and we are not even working there.  With such courage to jilt the security of his home and initiative to travel three thousand kilometres in search of a job in Hainan, he will no doubt do well in future.  We thank him and wish him well.

Stopping a cab, we show the driver a pamphlet on our intended destination.  Known to him as “Binlanggu” (“The Areca Nut Valley”), it is listed on our Sanya Map as “Hainan Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Zone (Areca Valley) at Ganshiling”.  His quote of 200 RMB for the return journey is reasonable.  This theme park is better known as “Betel Nut Park” in some tourist brochures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanya map showing the locations of Ganshiling Areca Valley and Yanoda
三亚地图: 甘什岭槟榔谷和呀诺达
 
 

Strictly speaking, the term “Betel Nut” is a misnomer.  The “nut” is not a nut but a fruit, and it is not “betel” but “Areca”.  Areca nuts are seeds of the Areca catechu palm.  These palms are native to the island.  With their shallow roots and tall but slender upright trunk, they resemble coconut palms (which also belong to the Arecaceae family), except for the clusters of small green fruits which would turn golden when ripened.  Oval in shape, each fruit is about the size made by joining the tips of my thumb and middle finger.  Areca seeds were used as medicine, and given as tributes as early as the seventh century to the Tang and Song emperors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areca nuts are seeds of the Areca catechu palm
槟榔是槟榔树的种子
 
 

Located northeast of Sanya central, the theme park is about thirty kilometres by road and just after Sannong Reservoir.  We travel via Yingbin Road and 223 National Road.  After passing close to Hainan University Sanya College, we turn left into Yuya Avenue which split into 224 National Road on the left and the E-Line Expressway on the right.  We take the exit to National Road. 

Along the way, Driver tells us of another place not far off.  For an extra 100 RMB, he will take us there.  We accept his offer since we do not have the time to return here another day.  Both theme parks are in Baoting County.  The journey to the first park takes about forty-five minutes.  

Six metres apart, two native wooden houses are the ticketing offices.  Their structures and roofs facing the car park were constructed to form the two pairs of open “legs” of two huge wooden totemic figures, which have heads wearing headgears and outstretched hands.  The right hand of one figure and the left hand of the other hold a huge signboard, thus forming an arch, the entrance.  Resting above the signboard is a huge wooden stylish representation of a pair of buffalo horns. 

Painted in black with a golden rim, the overhead signboard displays three characters in gold: 槟榔谷.  Also in gold, their pinyin translation below states “Bing Lang Gu”.  Is there a spelling error in the pinyin name?  “Areca nut” (槟榔) should be written as “binlang”.  But there is a “g” after “Bin”.  The error might be intentional; it would not be a wise advertisement to call the park a “Bin”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hainan Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Zone (Areca Valley) at Ganshiling, entrance
甘什岭(槟榔谷) 海南原生态黎苗文化旅游区, 入口

 

Although the entry fee of 165 RMB ($33) for an adult is hefty, the cultural attraction is crowded with tour coaches and taxis filling its car park.  Being a senior, I am given a concession rate without hesitation.  As we slowly wander in and out of the many thatched huts, we are enthusiastically greeted with choruses of “Ho Ha” by Li men and women sharing their specific craft and skill.  After a couple of times, we grasp the import and reciprocate.  We recall our visit to Fiji four years earlier.  At our resort, we responded with the same “Bula” at every staff we met.  “Bula” and “Ho Ha” sound identical.  Fijian Polynesians may be related to the Li and Miao.  

These Hainanese minorities live a spartan life.  In large extended-family huts, their small rooms are doorless.  Beds, benches, and tables are wooden, save their covers – a layer of matted coconut leaves on the beds and split bamboos glued onto the table tops or bed sides as decoration.  Their earthy-brown colours best reflect the sombre mood of the people.  A large cross-section of a fallen tree trunk functions as a “chair”.  Conditioned to soft mattress and sofa, my pampered back and butt would find no solace sleeping or sitting on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Li and Miao ethnic minorities live a spartan life
黎和苗少数民族生活简单的生活

 

In the work huts, bottles of spirit made from millet and local cakes freshly baked by a young maiden are available for purchase.  A round fruit with its thin, smooth, and orange skin catches my eyes.  I have not seen it before.  I pay 10 RMB for three, thinking they are native mango.  When I later cut it in my hotel room, I encounter an orange-yellow pulp.  Although it tastes slightly like mango, it is sappy.  I have difficulty washing off the remnant sap from my tiny tin spoon, which I have used to scoop out the flesh.  The seed is brown, big, and hard.  I later learn that it is called Yolk Fruit, a member of the Sapotaceae family. 

Because they are showcasing their cultural traditions, some ladies sit on raised concrete platforms under the shelter of tall “umbrellas” in the shape of a conical hat by the side of the pathway.  A slim lady in her sixties positions herself behind a small home-made mechanism held in place with the aid of her back and legs.  Her face is tattooed with straight and curved lines, similar to the intricate designs on the faces of Hawaiian natives and New Zealand Maoris.  Could there be an ancient genealogical connection between the Li and Miao communities on the one hand and the Hawaiians and Maoris on the other?  Continually smiling, the lady weaves a small piece of cloth made of intermingling dark-blue and vermillion threads, pausing to pose with tourists for lasting memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Li-Miao lady weaving a piece of cloth
一个黎苗夫人编织一块布

 

On a brown varnished board is written:

“The Ganza Village of the Li Minority Ethnic Group is composed of the Upper Village and the Lower Village, with a long history of more than 200 years and a population of a bit more than 400, who speak Sai (one of the five dialects spoken by the Li Ethnic Minority Groups).  In the past, there were towering old trees and numerous grotesque rocks around this village.  Beasts of prey, vipers, leeches, mosquitoes and other pests were found in great numbers and malaria was a constant threat.  However, since 1998 this area has gradually been developed and built into the present place now called the Areca Valley Tourist Resort of Hainan Ganza Ridge Primitive Culture.”

 
A group of about twenty young and old ladies performs some traditional song-and-dance items like the husking-rice dance on a platform before a seated crowd of appreciative audience.  The older ladies are clad in solemn black blouses and short skirts but the younger ladies are radiant, their skirts of multiple-coloured threads knitted into checked patterns.  Red is the overshadowing spark of the square and rectangular checks.  Accentuating the black upper halves of their blouses are the white strips along the edges of their collars and around the ends of sleeves, the lower halves being also as vibrant as their skirts.

 

 

 

 

 

The traditional dances of the Li and Miao, vibrant and colourful
黎和苗的传统舞蹈, 活泼和愉快

 

Their headdresses are beautifully coloured too.  Plaited from light-brown dried coconut leaves, big round baskets and large floor mats are some of their eye-catching props.  As they swirl round and round, and sway from left to right, to the beat of traditional drums I ponder: did Lady Xian, the Li heroine in Guangdong, execute these same movements in these same pretty outfits?

Seven or eight spectators are mobbing a native youth in his early twenties.  We are inquisitive, which is fortunate; for we are treated to an amazing feat, his agility in climbing without any mechanical aid to the top of a tall Areca palm within a minute to pluck a bunch of green fruits.  His quick slide down the thin tree truck evokes our soft expressions of disbelief: “Ooh” and “Wow”.  He distributes his fruits to the gratified visitors as mementoes.  He slices one for all to taste.  I reluctantly chew a slice, afraid that it might arouse an allergic reaction.  The flesh is firm like unripe pear and tastes like it too – not sweet, not acidic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A youth swiftly climbing up a tall Areca palm to pluck Areca nuts;  tasting the Areca fruit
一个青年黎苗迅速爬上一个高大的槟榔棕榈采摘槟榔果;  品尝槟榔果

 

Also known as Pinang nuts, Areca nuts play a dominant role in native culture.  Long before chewing gum became a habit in modern societies, Areca nut chewing was the pastime of indigenous locals.  It is a tradition akin to tea drinking among the Chinese or English.  According to historical record, these nuts were used by hosts to entertain guests even as early as the third century of the Common Era.  Eleventh-century Su Dongpo wrote of a Li girl chewing Areca nuts while adorning jasmine flowers on her flowing hair.

Areca nuts were offered as gifts and dowries.  Presented as a proposal dowry to a prospective bride’s parents, their acceptance signified approval of the marriage.  At the wedding celebration, nuts were distributed to guests.  Today, these nuts remain a necessary item during festivals.    

Smeared with lime (pulverised oyster shells), each Betel leaf is wrapped around a thin slice of the nut and then munched for a period of time before being spat out.  For extra flavour, Southeast Asians sometimes add clove.  The high level of psychoactive alkaloids in the nuts produces a mildly euphoric state, and the addiction travelled to as far as Hunan as a preventive medicine some four hundred years ago.  Betel leaves come from a perennial vine belonging to the Piperaceae family, of which pepper is a member.  Thus, they have a peppery taste.  The vine originated from South and Southeast Asia.

To maintain an alert mind during their monotonous repetitive journeys, some bus drivers develop the habit.  For 1 RMB (less than twenty Australian cents), a customer can secure a morsel from a roadside vendor.  To entice patrons, young enterprising women in Taiwan towns dress in scanty bikinis to promote their Areca nuts and cigarettes from glass booths. 

I am not brave enough to try this aspect of native culture.  An upset stomach would ruin my remaining holiday.  I am told that it is bitter at first and mildly narcotic.  Consuming too much can make one tipsy, which is the reason for its ban in some countries.  According to some studies, the Areca nuts from each tree yield more than 150 RMB ($30) in annual income to its owner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areca palms
槟榔棕榈

 

Planners of this Li and Miao cultural park merit an award of excellence.  A set of five life-size grey stone statues of goats in various postures like standing grandly on small boulders, or feeding intently on grasses on the ground, inevitably imprints a vivid notion in our minds of the bountiful livestock in rural households.  The miniature waterfall, with water dripping into a small stream, and the fish pond are simply picturesque.  We ascend the meandering path to lap up the fresh air and stillness of the cool rainforest.  Crossing one of the few rope-and-plank bridges swinging between two low hills, we look down with great joy at the wide expanse of a verdant valley.  Much is green, except for some habitations amply spread.  The undulating distant low ridge is forested.

Two hours and a half are insufficient for us to roam this park of about a quarter of a square kilometre (24.6 hectares) in area.  We rush because we have another destination.  Should we take the easy way down?  Many anxious patrons are queuing at the cable harness station for the slide of their life.  A waiting person is strapped around his legs and waist with a leather harness.  When it is safe to slide down, the rope-cum-hook end of his harness is attached by the attendants to the metallic sliding mechanism balancing on two supporting steel cables.  As he clings onto the rope, the daredevil is pushed off the platform to begin his horrifying ride to the ground station.  We watch as three intrepid middle-aged ladies rise to the challenge.  But Jo is afraid of height; so am I.  We cowardly walk down the hillside path instead.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Betel Nut Park
离开槟榔公园

 

At the exit, all guests take home as souvenir a dried Areca fruit dangling from a red thread.  The smell is sweet, fragrant, and aromatic.  It is three-thirty in the afternoon.  The taxi driver unsuccessfully attempts to steer us to Yalong Bay, claiming that Yanoda is closed.  When we decline the offer, he makes a call on his mobile phone.  Saying that it will close shortly at four, we are on our way.  This second theme park is only ten kilometres off.  Just after Chitian Reservior and near to Sandao town, it is about forty kilometres northeast of Sanya downtown by road.

Entry to Yanoda cost 170 RMB per adult.  Because we have little time left to explore at our own pace, we engage an English-speaking guide.  Lu Lei Lei (陆蕾蕾) is a friendly young girl of around twenty years of age.  Her fee is 100 RMB.  Informing her of our limited time and our preference of not taking the resort passenger vehicle, we are pleased with her professionalism: she immediately shows us her planned route on the printed park map.  We agree.

The first stop is the two-metre upright boulder on which the name “Yanoda” and its Chinese characters 呀诺达 have been cursively carved and painted in different colours.  The name, Lei Lei explains, is created from the Hainanese sound of the numerals “One”, “Two”, and “Three”.  Being a Hainanese, I appreciate the choice of name, which is close to the Hainanese pronunciation.  Even closer, my inelegant transliteration would be: “Jar-no-tar”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hainan Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone
海南呀诺达雨林文化旅游区

 

Perplexed I am when I later attempt to unravel the actual meaning of the Chinese name.  The first character “Ya” denotes an exclamation of surprise.  Surprised, visitors will certainly be: this park is spacious, clean, and refreshing.  “No” is the contraction of the pinyin “nuo” because there is no “No” in pinyin.  The Chinese character means “to promise” or “to agree”.  “Da” has a few meanings: “pass through”, “reach”, “realise”, and “influential”.  Google Translate offers this tantalising translation of the name: “Yeah promise up”.       

Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone was opened only in 2008.  As we continue our walking tour, I am struck by its vast space.  An hour or two is again inadequate to appreciate the mysterious flora of this parkland, and we are not giving it the attention it deserves.  The reason soon becomes apparent: the park will occupy more than forty-five square kilometres of land when it is fully developed by 2014, and it is also surrounded by one hundred and twenty square kilometres of lush virgin rainforest, making even a short stay here the most rejuvenating experience for any tourist. 

Here in this parkland is a variety of plant species, some as old as a millennium.  According to a plaque, the “Thousand-year root-wrapping stone” is one of the six wonders of rainforest.  


“This huge umbrella shaped banyan tree with a height of over 40 m. is over a thousand years old.  Its huge root system wrapped the huge stone.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The roots of a thousand-year old Banyan tree wraps around a rock
一千岁的榕树的根围在岩石上



Areca palms are plentiful; so too are the Giant Taro or Elephant Ear Taro plants (Alocasia macrorrhiza (Linn.) Schott).  Other palms also thrive such as the native Hainan Fan Palm (Chuniophoenix hainanensis) and Sugar Palm (Arenga pinnata (Wurmb.) Merr.).  Sugar Palm is a very valuable plant because practically every part is useful.  Each tree produces more than sixty kilograms of starch.  Sucrose constitutes a high portion - eighty-four percent - of its sap.  Sugar palms are found throughout Southeast Asia.

Besides bamboos and ferns like Alsophila spinulosa (Hook.) Tryon, the numerous species of trees and plants include the following: Ficus variegata Bl. var. chlorocarpa (Benth.); Bischofia polycarpa; Litsea monopetala; Lycopodium complanatum L.; Wendlandia uvariifolia; and Delonix regia (or Flame Tree).  

If Lei Lei has not pointed it out, we would have missed the most deadly tree in Hainan.  Set into the ground in front of the tree, a varnished plaque made from a thin slice of some tree trunk tells us its name: Antiaris toxicaria Lesch.  Its narrow trunk is not distinctive, and will not otherwise catch our attention.  Although its fruit is edible, its sap is so poisonous that a person who is infected with it, though a cut or wound, would take not more than nine steps before he expires.  I examine my hand and fingers.  There are no scratches.  I cautiously touch the tree.  I can now valiantly boast that I emerge unscathed from an encounter with the “Poison Arrow Tree” (“Jian du mu”), its common name in China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The deadliest tree in Hainan: Poison Arrow Tree (Antiaris toxicaria Lesch)
最致命的树在海南: 箭毒木 (Antiaris toxicaria Lesch)

 

Majestic stalks of Dendrobium orchids with flower petals that are mauve on the outside and white on the inside remind me of the Dendrobiums I once lovingly tended in my balcony pots in Singapore.  The cool climate here is perfect for these adorable orchids.  Unfortunately, I have not encountered a dainty Dendrobium sinense, which is a native orchid of Hainan.

As we cross some miniature bridges over small streams to a higher elevation, we gain a better view of the valley.  A huge pond sustains luxuriant lotuses, reflecting their characteristic pinkish flowers.  A few clumps of bougainvillea vines punctuate the green scenery with their light-purple flowers.  There is something magical about this rainforest.  

Lei Lei informs us that we can even camp at designated lots.  She ushers us there.  She lists the fees.  They are inexpensive.  The tents and other necessary equipments too are for hire.  Sleeping near natural waterfalls, hearing their cascading waters, viewing the spectacular valley from suspended bridges spanning across gorges, and walking under giant ferns and trees beside a clear brook are compelling inducements to me.  The average temperature here is also a refreshing twenty-three degrees Celsius.  My spirit is willing.  But time is not on our side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camping at Yanoda
露营在呀诺达

 

"Ya! No! Da!"  The lady interrupts in greeting.  

"Ya! No! Da!"  We fervently respond.

She is parading two parrots, one of which is a White Cockatoo while the other is a Green-winged Macaw (Ara chloropterus).  Both are petite and lovable.  As its name implies, the former is snow-white, except for its black eyes, while the beak of the latter is white, its breast and long tail are brilliantly red, and its wings are light-green and blue.  Both birds are not native to Hainan.  The macaw is an inhabitant of the forest and lowlands of Central America while the cockatoo is from Halmahera, the largest of the Indonesian Maluku Islands.  Because of their pleasant disposition, they have been captured for sales as pets.   

For 10 RMB, the lady places White Cockatoo on Jo’s outstretched left hand and red-and-green Macaw on her right hand.  Obedient White Cockatoo stays still for my camera while cheeky Macaw does the crab crawl, making her way to Jo’s shoulder.  Leaning her head on Jo’s right ear, she then playfully but gently grabs a bundle of Jo’s long hair with her pair of beak.  Finally unfurling her wings, she squawks at me as if saying, “This is a good pose.”  Thanks to her cooperation, I shoot enthusiastically.  For an amateur, the photographs turn out very well!

An eatery advertises “Rainforest Health Nourishing Buffett”.  But it is late.  Two hours have almost elapsed.  And Cab Driver has joined us, implicitly hinting that the park is closing soon.  Regretfully, we inform Lei Lei that we must leave.  We thank her profusely for showing us the important features. 

Two short tours to the replicated living environment of the Li and Miao ethnic minorities within a day pack too much excitement.  Little do I realise that the land of my birth holds so many wonders.  If my maternal niece had not made her fateful trip to Singapore, I would have remained ignorant of the interesting history and culture of Hainan.  For a thousand years, these minorities have gradually moved inland to this mountainous zone to live a simple and carefree life.  They have something to teach us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Yanoda
离开呀诺达

 

 

 

Copyright 2015

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

More photos

 Betel-nut Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yanoda

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2016

  Rambling around my ancestral Hainan