Xichang weekend

A few weeks ago, my friends in Kunming and Chengdu came to Xichang over a long weekend. It was an absolute blast.

We went to the lake...

 

And to a hot spring (which ended up being less hotspringy and more like a pool filled with so many children and undoubtedly even more urine)

Cool ripped up tree stump

If you can't tell, there are two people in the middle of that wheat field beating the wheat from the tares.

My adorable friend named Rachel bought a strap-on basket that she now actually uses in real life

This is rabbit's head. Yes, you're supposed to eat it, and no, I did not partake

I also took them to the old city where a large population of Yi people live. There is a mostly dry riverbed there where Yi Shamans hang out and people come to them to have rituals performed. We watched a few of the rituals, and they were some of the strangest things I have ever seen. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures, so I waited until they were done and then took pictures of what they left behind. We came into one of the rituals after it started, and the large-black-hat-wearing Shaman was brushing a live chick back and forth vertically over a seated woman's back. He was singing throughout this strange beating, and stopped every once in a while to take a sip of baijiu and spray it over her head calling out "Oppa!". For those of you who don't know, baijiu is a Chinese spirit made from corn that is 70% alcohol, and 100% disgusting.

You can see the poor little chickadee's head in there

After he had beaten the girl for a good 15 minutes with the live chick, he KILLED IT WITH HIS BARE HANDS and hung it on a teepee like straw ... next to a pit of burning coals filled with people-shaped mud dolls.

They put this t-shirt over it at the end of the ritual

these dolls creeped me out immensely

But that's not all folks, other strange parts of the ritual included having the girl rub wheat over her body, periodically drinking water and spitting it out into the aforementioned pit of coals, and breathing in the smoke. After the Shaman had killed the baby chick, he picked up a FULL GROWN CHICKEN and continued to BEAT THE GIRL WITH IT. Am I overreacting? Beyond this ritual being somewhat strange, it was also the worst animal treatment I have ever witnessed in person, and I wanted to stop it several times. And offend someone's culture? What is the right decision in that situation? Now, if I could change anything I would have mentioned something after they were done about how, heyyy maybe you shouldn't do that to those poor freaking chickens. Anyway. That's my PETA side coming out I guess.

The whole time I was thinking, this girl must have a serious medical issue, or be trying to expel a demon or something. When they were done, at least 45 minutes into when we started watching, they drank some naaasty baijiu together and I saw the girl slip the shaman a 50 (about $8) They had noticed us watching and came over to offer us alcohols. Of which I happily partook of a lid full because, sorry BYU, but I was not going to not be a part of that moment. I asked her what she did the ritual for, and she said she had peeling skin on her face. WHAT? Seriously? All that for something that could be healed by some moisturizer and maybe staying indoors? This place baffles me at times.

Well I hope that was entertaining. See you in 11 days, America!

And in the meantime, enjoy this dog with a mullet.