Chinese New Year in a Lisu Hill Tribe Village

Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of a new year based on the lunar calendar, and is one of the most important holidays for Chinese families and people with Chinese ancestry. The lunar calendar is based on the phases of the moon, so Chinese New Year is never on the same day each year. This year it officially started on February 3rd, and it marks the Year of the Rabbit. Parties and festivities will be celebrated worldwide, and usually for 15 days straight.

The Lisu hill tribe people are an ethnic minority group that live in Burma, Southwest China and Thailand. Nearly 60,000 of them live here in Northern Thailand which makes them one of the largest of the hill tribe communities. Like other hill tribe communities, not a whole lot is known about their origins. Their culture can easily date back 2,000 years, but since they're nomadic peoples who only recently created a form of written language their history has been passed down the generations through song. This song is so long, that Lisu people say it can take an entire night just to sing it.

The Lisu (as well as the other hill tribes) have their own unique identity. They have their own distinct language, distinct dress, traditions and animist (spirit-belief) practices. The tribe is also broken down into clans and sub-clans, and the language dialects change from clan to clan, depending on the regions they reside in. Today, most tribes have absorbed themselves into modern (Thai) society, but some villages retain their traditions fiercely as a means of self-preservation...much like the one I work with in the Mae Taeng area (1 hour drive into the valleys outside of Chiang Mai).

The Chinese New Year in Lisu villages is the most important festival, and it is celebrated with music, dancing, singing, feasting, LOTS of corn whiskey, and the people wear ornate dress with large amounts of silver dressings to show their success and prosperity in the previous year.

It's also a much awaited courting ritual that all the single ones look forward to each year. The girls dress in their best and dance intensely in the hopes of finding a prospective husband. The boys wait until the parents are too drunk to notice much before they make their move, asking for a pretty girl's hand in dance. If she accepts he knows he has a chance at a possible marriage in the new year. It's the one time per year where it's socially acceptable for boys and girls to hold each others' hands, and they make the most of it dancing all hours of the night until dawn! If prospective matches are found and the parents approve, the next important celebration in a Lisu village is a wedding ceremony. Best of luck to all the Lisu boys out there trying to make it happen!

A couple months ago, the Lisu shaman (witch doctor) of this particular Lisu village I work with invited me to join and celebrate their New Year. It was an honor, so of course I took them up on their offer! Some of our mutual work friends decided to join and I brought a friend visiting from out of town. Devin and I were the only foreigners in sight, so we pretty much had no chance of blending in discreetly. The kids thought we were pretty entertaining!

The dancing and singing was absolutely gorgeous. I joined in for a few rounds until the footwork got too complicated to keep up with. The highlight for me was when the shaman invited me into the women's home. The women from this village were singing to the elder men of visiting villages, wishing them welcome and merriment for the new year. It was more like chanting, with lots of complicated tone changes, and I was pulled into their skirts and colorful robes to join in for this important ceremony.

There was a lot of corn whiskey being poured that night...and shot after shot Devin and I took with the villagers for fear of being rude. In the end, we had a great night and quite the unique experience being invited to this private world away from worlds.

The dancing was filmed, but unfortunately it was too dark and the quality's not so great with my camera...however, click on this link to see traditional Lisu New Year dancing, it's exactly the same!