Take you to experience the authentic Miao markets

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If you don’t go to market when you go to Xiangxi, it means you haven’t been Xiangxi. Go to market is an important activity for the villagers in Xiangxi, they usually go to market for shopping and communication, Miao girls and women will be in beautiful dress on the day they go to market, just as on holidays. Now, although the economy is well developed, there is still no commercial facilities around many cottages located in the remote mountains, therefore, go to the market is an essential thing for them.

There are many fairs and markets in Xiangxi. Thought we only stayed there for five days, we encountered three markets while we were sightseeing, including the county's largest business market, that is Allah market, the county's second largest market—Jixin market, as well as the Shanjiang market, which is a Miao market and full of Miao people, many Miao girls and women were in beautiful dressed in the Shanjiang market, so it is the most favorite shopping market for the tourists. Each market attracts villagers from surrounding villages, who will ride on tractors or trucks in groups. The trucks are the kind of no tent, because it was not cold, so remove the tarp, only leaving the iron framework for grip. Sometimes there are so many people in the trucks that some young stood on the side of the trucks, and we could not help worrying about their safety. Some trucks are even divided into two levels, people often place the items, poultry and cattle in the under layer and sit leisurely on the upper layer, so funny!

At the market, you can see a lot of Miao women wearing blue embroidered dresses, and wrapped their heads in veils, some even wearing full silver, most of whom are elder people, because most of the young girls are unwilling to wear the traditional Miao dress. Many Miao women will carry a bamboo basket on the back, some even carry a large wok or large tanks, but it seemed that it was not too heavy for them to carry. There are all kinds of things in the market, including food, clothing, and the necessities for life. For tourists, the most eye-catching is the Miao's traditional crafts, such as the number of silver bracelets, rings, and silver chain for hanging on the skirts, as well as string of bells, locks, silver pieces, etc., the price is about 150 to 200 CNY. There are also many Miao embroidery shops, as well as shops selling tapes of Miao songs, costs about 8 dollars per one, they are Hmong songs sang by local singers, no accompaniment, they are the most authentic folk songs. After shopping all the goods, the villagers would like to gather together to talk about what had happened in their family, the current situation and the news in the village, at that time the market became a social place.

The scene of local villagers going to the market