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Miao Hospitality Expressed Generously
by Pei Mingming
In the United States, the South is seen as a culture of hospitality.
In China, at least among the Miao, I've found the same to be
true. Last spring, I spent several days in a Miao village called Dazhai in northern Guizhou and learned firsthand about Miao hospitality.

When we arrived at our host family's home in the early evening, the first thing they treated us to was a home-cooked meal. Though the Miao themselves don't eat a lot of meat, serving guests smoked pork and pork fat is an important sign of hospitality, so our bowls were always full. Mrs. Wang, our hostess, made sure our

Pix
Dazhai village in Dafang county, Guizhou.


White Rice
Preparing a meal for his guests.
bowls were never empty, and even resorted to trickery when we insisted we were too full to eat more. “Hey, look at that!” she would say, and as we turned to look at where she was pointing, she would dump another scoop of rice into our bowls.

In fact, the entire village considered it their responsibility to see that we were adequately fed. Every time we visited someone's house or even just passed by, they urged us to have a meal with them, with the result that we sometimes ate multiple times even before noon. One day around midday, having just come from eating our third meal of the day, we passed by a woman making tofu in a giant wok. After our efforts at polite refusal failed, we finally agreed to try a bite. The woman filled each of our bowls to the top with fresh tofu. By now, we knew to expect that a second helping was coming, so after we finished eating, my husband put his hand over his bowl to keep the woman from refilling it. Unfortunately, my reflexes weren't fast enough, and it all ended up in my bowl!

Even Miao children know how to make guests feel welcome. Three of the young girls in the village attached themselves to me from the moment we arrived. They held my hands whenever we went somewhere and would drop whatever they were doing to help guide us around the village. They even collected a bouquet of wildflowers for me one day.

The people of Dazhai themselves have very little materially, but they are eager to share what they do have. Through their overwhelming hospitality, the people of Dazhai won a place in my heart. If you ever get the chance to visit a Miao village, you will experience their hospitality yourself. Just be sure to bring an appetite!