Travel Notes | "Foreigners Take You to See China You Don't Know · Yunnan Chapter" - Episode 11 Lugu Lake

After an epic month-long journey in western Yunnan Province, Yunnan beyond imagination will enter its final stop. We travel with show host Jordan Porter to learn about indigenous culture, explore stunning natural spaces, or venture into unexplored secrets...

 

Lugu Lake is the last stop of the series, and its customs are demonstrated by the Mosuo people who live at the border of Sichuan and Yunnan. Our travel series aims to showcase the people, places, history and customs of Yunnan around the world. Lugu Lake may be the stop in this series that best showcases the diversity of China and reveals the unknown.

The Mosuo people are classified as a branch of the Naxi people, although the languages ​​of the two ethnic groups cannot be used to communicate with each other. The Naxi people are a patrilineal clan and follow Mahayana Buddhism and Tibetan and Taoist ideas, while the Mosuo people have been eliminated since the 17th century. The Lu sect monks have been Tibetan Buddhists ever since they converted. Traditionally, each Mosuo family has its own monk, and the monk's representative performs ceremonies in a separate room in the family compound.
Although Tibetan Buddhism is the official religion, the most prominent deity in the Mosuo pantheon is their own goddess Ganmo. ·She manages livestock, crops, and the general prosperity of the people, especially women's married life and childbearing. Mosuo painters depicted her as riding a white stallion on a cloud, holding the reins tightly in her left hand and a golden flute in her right hand.

As the sacred guardian of the Mosuo people, the Mosuo people pray to Ganmo before important Buddhist ceremonies. The status of the goddess Ganma continued during the transformation of Mosuo religion from shamanism to animism to Yellow Hat Buddhism. The white chest-shaped mounds dotted on the lakeshore and hills, called Cuota in Mosuo language, are sacred places where people pay tribute to the goddess.

Each Tso Pagoda has a niche into which prayers are placed with burning pine branches. The rising white smoke is considered to be a pleasant sight for the goddess Ganma. Worshipers also burn incense, place barley flour and rice grains on the fire, and kowtow in front of the mound to pray.

The Mosuo people occasionally organize a so-called Lake Parade, a full-day hike around the lake, to commemorate Ganmo. The procession stopped in front of each Tso Pagoda. The marchers burned incense, offered grains, kowtowed, and then walked and chatted toward the next destination, while the lamas in the entourage were responsible for reciting scriptures along the way. The Mosuo people's parade around the lake is not only held on festivals. There are celebrations every year. Those who are willing to parade around the lake can participate on the fifth, fifteenth, and twenty-fifth of any lunar month.

This series has been a joy to film, and we hope that anyone who sees an episode or the entire series will be as engaged and entertained as our crew was. A huge thank you to everyone involved, especially our interview subjects, tour guides and random people who took the time to show us the magic of their hometowns.

In this 12-episode series, we followed the footsteps of Yunnan and visited many places: from the provincial capital Kunming to charming old cities such as Weishan, Donglianhua, Dali, and Heshun, all the way to the volcanic wonders of Tengchong and Shaxi The tea horse road post and the rock climbing cliffs around Laojun Mountain. Next, we'll move on to Yunnan's own Shangri-La, hiking through the stunning boundless Tiger Leaping Gorge and stopping in romantic Lijiang. It's been an epic trip and I hope you enjoy every episode!

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