The ancient village of Wengdingzhai of the Wa tribe in Yunnan is known as “the last primitive tribe on the mainland”. (Video Screenshot)
On February 14, a fire broke out in the ancient village of Wengdingzhai, which is known as the “last primitive tribe on the mainland”, and almost all the huts in the village were burned down, causing many netizens to be distressed.
According to mainland media reports, at around 5:30 p.m. on the 14th, a fire broke out in the ancient village of Wengdingzhai in Canyuan Wa Autonomous County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, which spread rapidly and plunged the entire village into a sea of flames, with almost all the thatched houses on fire.
The fire continued to burn for about 3 hours before it was extinguished, and villagers said that the whole ancient village was basically burned out. For the Time being, there is no information on casualties and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Wazhai Wunding, the last primitive tribe in China, disappears in flames in Yunnan on Feb 14 pic.twitter.com/408HSEkvFE
-Following Little Ant (@mini04123) February 15,2021
The village of Ondin before the fire. pic.twitter.com/5f0lc51sDs
-Daze Township (@qfxafgnaBwCnHjV) February15,2021
Located on the banks of the Lancang River and surrounded by mountains, Wengding Village is surrounded by clouds all year round and has a history of over 400 years. Wengding means “cloudy place” in Wa language.
For hundreds of years, the villagers have been living a primitive Life of slash-and-burn farming, relying on oxen for plowing, back-breaking for water and oil for lighting, which has been hailed by National Geographic as “the last primitive tribe on the mainland”.
On March 31, 2020, the Wengding Primitive Tribe Cultural Tourism Zone was assessed as a national 4A level tourist attraction in China.
After the video of this sudden fire in Wengding village went viral on social media Twitter, seeing the beautiful ancient village disappear in the fire made many netizens feel distressed:.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the fire that hit Ondine today! Ten years ago in the summer had come to this place by chance, and was also taken in for a night stay with this, impressed, tribal group living, the night does not close the door, the people are simple, cattle for God. Pray for the safety of the local villagers.”
“Been twice, the impression of Wengding still remains in the long-bearded grandfather gave us roasted bitter tea, ancient trees full of bull skulls, thick ancient wooden bones, full of the village running unskilled speaking Chinese children, and every time a lot of villagers in front of Wengding will be enthusiastic singing and dancing in front of the village “Jialing Sai “, that wild beauty and vitality gave me a shock that I still can not forget. But today, the last primitive tribe on the mainland, in the fire disappeared.”
It is reported that this fire in Weng Dingzhai started at the newly built premises of the local government. A volunteer from the public welfare organization “Friends of the Ancient Village” revealed that in recent years, the local government has been opposed by some local villagers to the re-planning and construction of Wengdingzhai. At the same time, the new plan also destroyed the pattern of the ancient village, and some ancient village preservationists do not agree with the concept.
In recent years, many minority villages in Yunnan, Tibet and Guangxi have been developed as tourist attractions. In order to obtain economic income from tourism, the local government has been engaged in extensive development, causing many primitive villages to suffer different degrees of destruction and the lives of villagers have been seriously affected.
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