Lugu Lake from the Yunnan Side
Text by Cecile Zehnacker
Buddhist temple on Lugu Lake's Liwubi Island. by Cecile Zehnacker
fall my travels in China, my discovery of Lugu Lake (Luguhu), a wondrous, giant body of water straddling the border between Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southern China, has become one of my most precious memories.
I got the chance to discover Yunnan thanks to a Sichuanese friend, and I soon realized that this part of China has a lot to offer in terms of natural and cultural scenery. Yunnan borders Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, and is home to many ethnic minorities who enrich its culture. Of the 55 ethnic minorities of China, 25 can be found in Yunnan, and many locals follow Tibetan Buddhism and its traditions, which flavor the province. Many amazing temples and stupas can be found across the province, even in very remote areas. These factors, O coupled with high altitudes, diverse vegetation and herding culture, imbue every trip to Yunnan with a one-of-a-kind aura. In some high-altitude villages, yaks wander yellowish pastures in majestic mountain landscapes dotted with Tibetan houses.
Despite all these wonders, I was most amazed by Lugu Lake. Even the road trip to get there was the most impressive I have ever experienced. It takes about eight hours to drive from Lijiang to Luoshui Village on the lake. For most of the trip, the road winds through cliffs and chasms, making the journey a real adventure, though long. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and many terraced rice fields have such unusual layouts that it’s a wonder farmers can actually access them.
When we arrived at Lugu Lake, an entirely different face of China suddenly appeared, making the long drive worthwhile: The majestic lake with a surface area of almost 50 square kilometers is surrounded by mountains that rival the Alps. The colors and magnitude of the scenery are stunning.
Thanks to the proliferation of Tibetan Buddhism across Yunnan Province, many stupas can be seen on the lake, and a beautiful lama temple on an island in the lake is accessible only by boat. The trip to the island is nice. Women from local ethnic groups captain large wooden rafts all over the lake. Their colourful traditional costumes and ornaments contrast their weather beaten faces. The small island where the temple stands is called Liwubi and offers an amazing view of all of its surroundings.
Perhaps the most fascinating facet of Yunnan is its Mosuo people, the only matriarchal society left in China. Because of them, Lugu Lake is sometimes referred to as the Women’s Kingdom. In Mosuo culture, women control most things and traditional marriage doesn’t exist. Inheritance is passed from mother to daughter, and families are maintained along the female bloodlines. Men perform various everyday jobs and tasks, but don’t own land or houses.
Couples don’t live together, and men and women can see as many lovers as they like without fear of condemnation, unlike most other societies. Women live in their own homes with their own children, while men live in their mothers’ and sisters’ homes and raise their sisters’ kids. Tradition dictates that when a man courts a woman and she has agreed to be with him, the man should go to her house at dusk with a knife and a piece of meat. The piece of meat is given to the dog to keep it quiet, and the knife is used to climb up to the woman’s second-floor window. The next morning he just leaves the house and returns home.
In addition to Tibetan Buddhism, which arrived relatively late in history, Mosuo worship love and fertility, embodied by Hlidi Gemu, a mother goddess represented by one of the mountains surrounding Lugu Lake.
I had the chance to visit a Mosuo house and participate in an evening of singing around a bonfire, which was a lot of fun. As the only foreigner in the group, I was asked to sing a song from my home country. That experience ranks among my favorite memories of the stunning area. When we left the next day, I promised myself I would return.
Zouhun Bridge, a must-see scenic spot for tourists to Lugu Lake. “Zouhun,” literally “walking marriage,” is a traditional custom of the Mosuo people that has lived on to this day. According to the custom, the Mosuo people do not formally marry, and both men and women live in their mother’s homes throughout their lives. IC
A Mosuo woman. There are some 50,000 Mosuo people living on the banks of Lugu Lake. They have their own language but no written script. In 1990, the Chinese government placed them as members of the Naxi and Mongolian ethnic groups. IC