China – Guangxi
Guangxi is located at the south central China, bordering Vietnam. This place is a mountainous area where tourists rush here for it charming natural scenery and diverse ethnic customs. From here, you can access easily to Vietnam and there are a huge number of Vietnamese staying here.
We was here for about one week in Guangxi province to explore some of the important cities. The first one we visited was Bama Longevity Village
Bama Longevity Village – Ren Shou Village (仁寿山庄)
This is a village with secret to long life and we are about to find out their secrets. There are over 30% of the people here are over 100 years of age. To come to this village was not easy, about 6 hours drive from Guilin to reach this untouched village.
Tool to make tofu
Above is the tool to press the tofu. According to centenarians here, one of their daily diet is tofu.
Press Sugar Tool
The below is the tool to use to press sugar. Cows were used to help moving this tool.
It is believed the people in Bama eat an alkalizing plant-based diet in vegetables including pumpkins and their seedlings, tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, bamboo shoots. Their soil is particularly full of minerals which get into the plants. In shorts, the food the Bama people eat contain high in fiber, protein and vitamins and low in calories and fat.
With a simple life style, people here drink ionized, spring water, free from chlorine. Its local ingredient have medicinal as well as high taste factor.
A lot of sick people moved to Bama village and get better living here for few months, I am not sure how true is it. People believe is the water as it has many minerals. Some ever recovered from cancer and lived here permanently.
Some doctor in hospital, began researching Bama’s secret in the mid-90s. One key was found, is natural selection. The area is remote and mountainous. In the old days, it took three days to leave the hills, so there was relatively little mixing with the outside world.
It is also believed people lives longer here is because of the good gene from both parents and also good lifestyle. People in Bama worked hard in the fields. Much of their food was steamed, not fried. People here also seldom consume meat.
In shorts, aspects such as genetics, geography, climate, environment, and food are contributed to their longevity in Bama.
Performance by Yao People 瑶族
Yao race is one of the minorities in China, they are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and normally reside in the mountainous area. Vietnam, Laos and Thailand also has very big population of Yao People. Their face look like my Vietnamese friends who I met in the university days.
Some entertainment performed by the Yau Zhu/瑶族 people, some dance and singing. Nothing too special about the performance but it did light up the whole atmosphere of this aging village.
Baimo Tiankeng (Devil’s collapsed cave) 巴马百魔天坑
We had a boat ride through the river and the boat carried us to a cave and the view from the cave is quite amazing.
It is pretty dark when you are inside the cave and the view looking out from the cave is quite unique. The cave was praised as “The First Cave in the World” by British Royal Cave Association.
Baimo cave is one of the spectacular limestone cave in Bama. While a local lady paddle the boat she also sang some songs to entertain us. Baimo Cave functions as a giant natural air conditioner and it feels very cooling in the summer.
We came back to town to have a rest and later went for a walk.
We bought some banana since it is the most convenient to eat.
Summary : Bama Guangxi
- Bama Longevity Village – Ren Shou Village (人寿山庄)
- Baimo Tiankeng (Devil’s collapsed cave) 巴马百魔天坑