The Mysterious Washan Mountain

Wa people had practiced primitive living and laboring until the 1950s. They lived in bamboo towers, used bamboo to channel spring water, kill the ox with spears to divine, and both men and women of Wa group bathed together in the same pond. Over the sweep of their long history, Wa people has nurtured their primitive and mysterious culture.

Wa people worship the ox and genitalia. Today, on big festivals or occasions, they still kill the ox with spears to pray happiness for their villages and families.

 The Tea Culture of Wa People

Tea plays an important role in Wa people's daily life. It is said that in remote antiquity, the flood overwhelmed the earth and nothing was left except tea trees, bamboo, banana, red rice, the buffalo, the elephant and the little lark sparrow. When the flood receded, Wa ancestors used timbers and bamboos that buffalos and elephant carried to build houses, fed themselves with banana and red rice, and quenched their thirst and cured disease with tea. Thus Wa ancestors rebuilt their villages and prospered. Wa people love the buffalo and the elephant, because they struggled together in the time of difficulty. Wa people respect tea leaves as sacred objects, because tea leaves saved Wa ancestors.

Today, tea is still part of Wa people's life. They use tea leaves to pray peace and health for new babies; bury tea leaves together with the dead; wrap tea leaves and red rice when a lady takes a long journey with her children. And tea leaves are necessary objects in sacrifice rites.

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