Dai customs:
It is forbidden for outsiders to ride horses, drive cattle, carry loads and enter the stockade unkempt; When entering the Dai bamboo house, you should take off your shoes outside the door and walk gently inside. You can't sit above or across the fireplace, enter the owner's inner room, or sit on the threshold; The tripod on the fireplace can't move, and the fire can't be pushed; Don't whistle and cut your nails at home; Don't use clothes as pillows, and don't sit on pillows; When hanging clothes, the coat should be hung at a high place, and the pants and skirts should be hung at a low place; Take off your shoes when entering the Buddhist temple, and avoid touching the head, Buddha statue, spear, banner and other Buddhist sacred objects of the young monk.
Dai marriage customs:
"Catching yellow chickens" is a way for young men and women in Xishuangbanna to seek love by eating rumors, that is, girls take yellow chickens to the market to sell. If the buyer is a girl's lover, the girl will take the initiative to take out the stool and let him sit next to it. Through conversation, if the two sides love each other, they will carry chickens and stools to the Woods to pour out their hearts. If the buyer is not the girl's lover, the girl will double the asking price.
"Eat a little wine", men and women are engaged, the man cleans up the dining tables and goes to the woman's house to treat them. When the guests dispersed, the man was accompanied by three men, and the woman and her three women set a table. "Eat some wine" means eating three dishes: the first one is spicy; The second way is to put more salt; The third course should have sweets. It means passion, depth and sweetness. Congratulations on the completion of the new house. The young man went upstairs first, carrying a bull's head and singing blessing song. Mature men carry boxes, married women carry bedding, and girls carry food in turn. Then they set up a tripod on the fireplace, set the wine table, prepared dishes and sang songs to congratulate the completion of the new house. The villagers also send some auspicious gifts to their owners.
On the wedding day, the wedding will be held in both parties' homes, mostly in the woman's home first. At the wedding reception, the table should be covered with green banana leaves, and the dishes include blood flourishing (white flourishing) symbolizing good luck, rice cakes and various dishes. Before the banquet, the bride and groom should make a tie ceremony, that is, the wedding uses a white line to bypass the shoulders of both sides, and two white lines are tied to the wrists of the bride and groom respectively, symbolizing purity. Then, the old man kneaded the glutinous rice into a triangle, dipped it in salt, and put it on the top of a tripod on the fireplace to let it fall off naturally after burning, symbolizing that love is as strong as iron.
Dietary customs of Dai people:
Rice and glutinous rice are staple foods. Dehong Dai's staple food is japonica rice, and Xishuangbanna Dai's staple food is glutinous rice. Usually eaten immediately. People think that japonica rice and rice need to be eaten immediately without losing their original color and fragrance, so they don't eat overnight meals or rarely eat them, and they are used to pinching rice with their hands. All dishes and snacks are mainly sour, such as sour bamboo shoots, sour pea powder, sour meat and wild sour fruit; I like to eat pickled cabbage. It is said that Dai people often eat sauerkraut because they often eat sticky rice food that is not easy to digest, and sour food helps digestion.
The daily meat is pigs, cows, chickens and ducks, and don't eat or eat less mutton. Dai people who live in the mainland like to eat dog meat, are good at roast chicken and roast chicken, and are very fond of aquatic products such as fish, shrimp, crab, snails and moss. Eating with moss is a unique flavor dish of Dai people. Cooking fish, mostly sour fish or roasted citronella fish, in addition to making fish chop naan (that is, mashing grilled fish into mud and mixing coriander, etc.). ), fish jelly, grilled fish, eel with white sauce, etc. When eating crabs, they are usually chopped into crab paste with shell and meat for cooking. Dai people call this crab sauce "crab rice cloth".
Bitter gourd is a daily vegetable with the highest yield and consumption. In addition to bitter gourd, Xishuangbanna also has a kind of bitter bamboo shoots, so there is also a bitter taste in Dai flavor. The representative bitter vegetable is a mixture of cowhide and cold dishes cooked with ingredients such as ox gall.
There are many kinds of insects in the hot and humid areas of Dai nationality. Flavor dishes and snacks made by insects are an important part of Dai food. Common insects that eat are cicadas, bamboo worms, Okumo, soft-shelled turtle, ant eggs and so on. Dai people are addicted to alcohol, but their alcohol content is not high. They brewed it themselves, and it tastes very sweet. Tea is a local specialty, but Dai people only drink big leaf tea without spices. When drinking, only stir-fry on the fire until it is burnt, and drink it slightly after brewing. Chewing betel nut, mixed with tobacco and lime, all day long. Typical foods include dog meat soup pot, dried pork, salted eggs and dried eel.
Dai costumes:
Dai women's clothing is the most beautiful in the world, just like a proud peacock. It is colorful, beautiful and amazing. As long as people who know the situation feel that this statement is not exaggerated at all. Generally speaking, Dai women are slim, pure and beautiful, and graceful, so they are called "golden peacocks". They are not only beautiful, but also good at dressing up, dressing themselves up as beautiful as flowers and pure as jade with unique costumes. Dai women generally like to wear short sleeves and skirts to fully show their slim figure. Wear white or crimson underwear on it, with a tight coat, narrow sleeves and big collar, and double-breasted ones in pink, light yellow, light green, white, sky blue and other colors. Nowadays, it is mostly sewn with georgette, silk, polyester and other materials. Narrow-sleeved jacket tightly wrapped around the arm, almost no gap. Many people also like to sew with flesh-colored materials. You can't see the sleeves without looking carefully. The front and back skirts are waist-high and tightly wrapped around your body. The short-sleeved shirt and skirt are tied with a silver belt, and the skirt is ankle-length. The waist is slim and small, and the hem is wide. This kind of clothing of Dai women fully shows the beauty of women's chest, waist and buttocks. In addition, the fabric used is soft and bright, which gives people a sense of elegance whether walking or doing things.
Dai men usually wear collarless double-breasted or large-breasted small sleeve shirts and long-sleeved trousers, with white cloth, blue cloth or crepe as the head, and some wear tweed hats, which looks chic.
Dai people, both men and women, always like to carry a shoulder bag (handkerchief) made of cotton thread on their shoulders when they go out. The satchel is brightly colored, simple in style, and has strong life color and national characteristics. The patterns are rare birds and animals, flowers and trees or geometric figures, which are vivid and realistic. Each pattern contains specific contents, such as: red and green are to commemorate ancestors; Peacock pattern indicates good luck; Elephant patterns symbolize harvest and a better life; It fully shows the Dai people's yearning and pursuit of a better life.
Dai festivals:
Celebrating the Dai New Year is one of the most famous national festivals in China. Generally, it is between April 13 and April 15 in the solar calendar. At that time, people will go to nearby Buddhist temples to bathe in Buddha's light and then splash water on each other to express sincere wishes. There is an old myth and legend circulating here, and you will hear the introduction of the tour guide during the tour. During the Songkran Festival, there will be colorful ethnic entertainment activities such as cockfighting, peacock dance jumping, wallet throwing, dragon boat racing and flying lanterns. Its main location is Jinghong City.