Awa Mountains -- Land of Inspiration

On the Sino-Myanmar border with the Mekong to the west and the Salween to the east, there lies the beautiful and mysterious land of the Awa Mountains.

Among the high peaks and deep valleys, on the vast plains live a number of ethnic groups, such as the Lahu, Dai and Han people who migrated here long ago. An indigenous people, the Wa originally lived in caves or tree dwellings. This has left an indelible impression on their cultural practices. Cave paintings painted by bare fingers with liquid mixtures of animal blood and hematite powder as pigments can still be found among the cliffs in the Awa Mountains. These paintings (15 currently discovered) vividly depict the life of the ancestors of the Wa people in caves as tree dwellers and hunter-gatherers. Some of these images date back to the Neolithic period and are a rich source of material for students of fine art, architecture, and anthropology.

Surprisingly, the Wa also developed a unique and sophisticated literature. Farming created a new way of life for the ancient Wa people as they moved out of their cave dwellings and built houses and villages. The cliffs of Cangyuan county have well-preserved frescoes of the ancient New Rice Festival of the Wa. In ancient times, human heads of the enemy tribes were used as sacrifices to the rice god. Nowadays, the sacrifices are replaced with buffalo heads.

As time goes by, the Wa people’s way of life has become quite different from the mysterious life of their ancestors. Although they no longer head-hunt, their ancestral songs, dances, sacrificial ceremonies, and ethnic costumes have remained much the same.

The Awa Mountains have also inspired the Dai people living in this area. Their bamboo houses are architecturally unique, specially designed for upstairs living and the benefit of cool air drafting upwards in the local steamy tropical climate.