Enshi has many colorful Tujia ethnic cultures, such as the pendulum dance, Tujia folk songs, hanging footstools, wind and rain bridges, and Silankapu. Here is a brief description of one or two.
Pendulum Dance
The Tujia folk dance pendulum dance has been popularized, and students in many of our schools in Enshi will dance the pendulum dance. Our school dances it at morning exercises and recess. Pendulum dance has many movements: waving hands, sowing seeds, rice planting, harvesting, picking grain, spinning, weaving, small worship and pushing mill, etc., which do the most or waving hands this action. The waving of hands is the first and the last action. The waving of hands is done with the left hand in front and the right hand at the back. After squatting or standing up, the hands are opened forward, and when they are withdrawn, the feet squat together, and when they stand up again, the open hands are withdrawn, with the right hand at the front and the left hand at the back. This action looks very simple, but it is still a little difficult to do.
Hanging Foot Towers
The residential buildings of the Tujia people in Enshi are characterized by the Tujia Hanging Foot Towers, which have great cultural connotations of the Tujia people. There are three main houses in the footstools, with a big room in the center called the "hall", and two rooms on the left and right called the "coping rooms", which are used as bedrooms, fire pits or kitchens. At both ends of the main house, there are compartments, which are connected to the main house except for one side on the ground, and the other three sides are overhanging, supported by pillars. People live in the upper part of the hammock, while the lower part feeds the livestock and piles up sundries. There are many forms of suspended footstools: single-hanging, double-hanging, and four-in-a-water style. Hanging-footed buildings generally have corridors, and most of their corridors are patterned with "wanzigue" and "shouzigue" to symbolize auspiciousness.
The Tujia people also have many interesting ethnic customs and cultures for outsiders to enjoy. If you have the opportunity, you can come to play!