Tour Summary
by Joan Burress

A famous comedian states in his monologue, "You know the world has gone crazy when the French call Americans arrogant, Germany does not want to go to war, and the tallest man in the NBA is Chinese." Our China tour dispelled another widely held stereotype about China. We interacted with many Chinese people who not only look quite different from most Han, they have different languages, religions, family structures, rituals, traditional music, songs and dances, and live in differently styled homes and geographical areas.

Having lived in Beijing as an English as a Foreign Language exchange teacher for three years through the American Council of Learned Societies, I certainly was familiar with Chinese culture. In 1997, I even visited Yunnan, so the idea of Chinese Ethnic Minorities was not new to me. However, it was not until this tour that I actually had a chance to interact with the different minority groups, and learn from the inside about their many cultural differences.

After taking African history workshops, reading books, e.g., African Presence in Early Asia by Runoko Rashidi and Ivan Van Sertima, and learning that scientific study of DNA in all humans has led to the finding that there in one particular strand of DNA that is found in all people throughout the world, and that strand has been traced back to a single female who lived in Africa about 200,000 years ago, I have been very interested in this ancient connection between China and Africa. While living in China, I often looked for traces of ancient African ancestry in the faces, hair texture, gait, body type, gestures, etc. of my students, friends, co-workers, et al. In museums I looked for pottery and the like that was common to both cultures. I did find some traces, however, our tour shed much more light on this historic connection in less than one month than I found in three years.

In antiquity, the Naxi and the Mosuo were considered one ethnic group. The word "Naxi" even translates to 'black' (Na) 'man' (Xi) in the Mosuo language. The Naxi are known for making beautiful tie-dyed bedspreads, tablecloths, etc. that look just like that found in Africa. Some of the Naxi people I saw, especially the elders, had very dark brown skin. Najun, the Mosuo woman in whose ancestral household I was blessed to spend two days and one night, said that the Mosuo have browner skin and thicker, curlier hair than many other minorities. Also, part of their traditional costume consists of one very thick, black braid of a texture that looks quite African, that Mosuo women wrap around their heads. One of her cousins, who is a Dongba priest, has hair that is actually as tightly curled, or kinky as an African's hair. Najun said such kinky hair is somewhat common among the Mosuo.

The Wa, known for their beautiful dark-skinned male guitar-playing, bare-topped singers, also have very thick, wavy, curly, or kinky black hair.

In the museums we visited, I saw black-skinned Buddhas, Cowrie shells that were used as money in China in 2000BC, and famous three-legged pottery made in China in 2000BC.  Cowrie shells were used as money in Africa earlier then 2000BC, and very similar three-legged pottery has been found in Africa that dates back prior to 2000BC.

Yet another similarity is found in the ancient traditional singing style of the women of the two cultures. Both can be very nasal, but pleasant and powerful. In fact Naxi and Mosuo mountain singing have nuances, and key and pitch changes that bring gospel, blues and jazz to mind.

Could all of the above indications of ancient connections be a partial explanation of the very widespread, extreme admiration of, and unbridled instinctive desire (even a need it seemed in many cases!) to reach right out and touch my locks?

I thoroughly enjoyed our tour, our discoveries, and most of all our very close interactions with some of China's Ethnic Minorities. Fascinating and extremely unifying!