Under a clear, blue sky, the mountainous Liangshan area is home to minority people struggling to maintain their unique cultures. It also hosts one of China's satellite centres.

The beauty of my hometown Liangshan Yi Minority Autonomous Region was lost on me until one day four years ago. At that time, one of my Polish friends, upon her arrival at my home in Xichang, the capital city of the region in southwestern Sichuan Province in Southwest China, exclaimed, "The scenery along the railway is magnificent. You guys have red soil all over the huge mountains."

After that, I began to notice, little by little, this marvelous and mystical place where I have lived for years.

Xichang is one of the three cities in China where satellites are launched. However, it is also famous as the best place in the country for viewing the moon.

Because it is located over 2,000 metres above sea level, the air is especially clean and the sky is especially blue in the city. The moon also appears brighter and larger than any other place.

The clean air and fewer climate changes are also part of the reasons for the central government to choose Xichang for satellite launching.

On the edge of the city lies a huge lake and a green-covered mountain. Qionghai Lake is said to be the place where the old Xichang city sank when a huge earthquake happened.

Xichang and its neighbouring areas are located in the centre of an earthquake belt.

The same earthquake that buried Xichang caused many other places in Liangshan to sink and disappear. It also caused the formation of many high and huge mountains in the area.

Most of those mountains are bare, except for Lu Mount, located beside Qionghai Lake, which is green all year 'round.

The mountain and the lake provide the best places to view the moon.

Lu Mount is also the only mountain in which three kinds of religions - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in China are respected together.

For years, the smoke from burning incense has surrounded the mountain.

When my Polish friend understood that those temples in the mountain belong to different religions, she was confused why Chinese followers kneel down and pray in every temple regardless of the religion it represents.

Perhaps this custom represents the simplicity of Chinese religious followers - they don't care what religion it is so long as they ensure their peaceful and happy life.

Yi people

Though Liangshan is privileged with its beautiful scenery, what makes this place distinguished from other tourism spots in Sichuan province is the people.

Liangshan is where most Yi people live outside of neighbouring Yunnan Province on the south of Liangshan.

Many Yi people maintain their old traditions, such as celebrating good harvests by playing torches and dancing around numerous bonfires.

Drinking wine is part of the celebration that involves several people standing around a big jar from which they sip wine through long, thin straws.

In recent years, the local government incorporated the harvest celebration into a commercial art festival. Every August, Yi people come down from the mountains to participate in the International Torch Festival.

Large parades are held along major streets of Xichang and other cities in the autonomous region. Fireworks, horse racing and bull fighting and beauty pageants round out the festival.

Many people outside of the autonomous region are curious and even scared of Yi people because of their valiant and sometimes violent characters. But most of the time, Yi people are friendly and easy-going.

Matriachal Mosuo

As Yi people struggle to maintain their own culture, another minority - the Mosuo - carry out their traditions at Lugu Lake.

Lugu Lake lies in the middle part of the Hengduan Range in Yanyuan County, Sichuan Province and Yongning Town of Ningnang County, Yunnan Province.

In the local Mongolian language, Lugu means falling into the water. The surface of the lake is 385 metres above sea level.

There are six islands and a peninsula that holds a dam. The water is clean, clear, slightly sweet, almost free from pollution.

The mirror-like lake reflects the snow-covered mountains, forming a lively and vivid picture.

The Mosuo people live in a matriarchal society. Men are expected to live with the family for some time and then they migrate to other families for a time. This is called "visiting marriage."

After a woman gives birth, her children are cared for by her mother, brothers and sisters. The children are also named after their mother. There are some rules to be obeyed in this marriage system, but it is not restricted by specific laws or family conditions. The visiting marriage customs has been practised for 150 years, but since 1958, some Mosuo have adopted a more monogamous system.

In the 1920s, an American geographer, Joseph Lark, settled on the island, where he reportedly lived for 30 years. He wrote a book, "The Naxi Kingdom in Southwest China," about the place he had learned to love.

It was said that during his stay there, he fell in love with a Mosuo woman and had children with her.

He eventually returned to his home in the US. When he was dying, he told his family to spread half of his ashes on the mystic mountains and the lake in China he had called home for so many years.

The island was later named after him.

Travel tips

There are two trains every day from Shanghai to Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan province, from where you can take various trains directly to Xichang. The hard sleeper in non-air-conditioned trains costs 400 Yuan ($50) and in air-conditioned trains 600 Yuan ($75).

There are also flights from Shanghai to Chengdu and then to Xichang. The cost is around 2,000 Yuan ($241) to Xichang.

Hotels in Xichang are inexpensive. The best, such as Liangshan Hotel, Satellite Hotel and Qionghai Lake Hotel, are usually similar to the two- or three-star hotels in Shanghai. The Qionghai Lake Hotel stands beside the lake, with its beautiful scenery.

From the downtown of Xichang, there are buses direct to Lugu Lake.

The climate in Xichang is wonderful, always spring-like. However, in other mountainous regions, such as Lugu Lake, the climate is changeable.

(China Daily 05/24/2001)