Northwest Sichuan I 

Yin: So over there are the chickens, but I want to show you my favorite animal. Guess what? Oink oink... it鈥檚 the pig. Old McDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

	Fireplace

It鈥檚 getting a little cold outside. Luckily we鈥檙e in the most important room with a fireplace. Right here, and around wintertime and dinnertime the people will start a fire and boil a pot of goodies of beef and meet. Also, this is a center of activity because when the guests or guests come over, they will gather around here and eat, drink, and rest, and maybe sing and dance. But today, we鈥檙e not going to be eating here because there is a special banquet held when someone has built a new house and everyone from the village will attend this event. I鈥檓 ready to go.

From afar, the quiet village seems to be asleep, but today, the situation was different. The entire community builds the new houses, so a celebration is held when the building is complete.

During the day, hundreds of guests (virtually all the people in the village) came to celebrate. Most brought gifts or a small sum of money. Although I was not aware of this custom, I was welcomed nonetheless.

The girls in Danba are known for their beauty, giving the village the nickname 鈥淏eauty Valley.鈥

Yin: So here I am at the brand new house. And you can see that there are all different kinds of people鈥men, women, children, all having fun and ready to eat. And the meal is right over there!

Of course, a good celebration needs food. Big pans filled with juicy meats and tasty vegetables

Now, for some exercise. The traditional Guozhuang dance is perfect. Who says the little ones can鈥檛 get jiggy with it either?

In this dance, men and women dance along the circle. This dance is performed when celebrating holidays, birthdays, weddings, the building of new houses.

The next morning, we continue our journey to Daofu, 160 km from Danba, stopping at Huiyuan temple, located in a sacred location, surrounded by mountains on all sides.

	It鈥檚 believed that spinning the wheel is like reading the scriptures.

The Tibetans are devout people whose lives revolve around religion. One important ritual for them is spinning the prayer wheel. It鈥檚 believed that spinning the wheel is like reading the scriptures. Remember to turn the wheel clockwise, as the scriptures are read in a clockwise manner.

Inside, I met the living Buddha, who is the teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the temple.