PRESERVING TRADITION
Reluctant to appear different, many migrating villagers, like Gun's two sons, have cut their hair buns.
"I told my fellow villagers at the meeting to keep their 'hugun,' but to no avail," he said with a sigh. Only half the village men still have their traditional hairstyle.
"If they abandon their hugun and Miao-style dress, Biasha will be gone," he added.
However, Gun has also been troubled by villagers who cling to tradition.
He tried to encourage the 185 households living below the poverty line to apply for low-interest loans to start their own businesses. In two years, only three people agreed to borrow -- one sent his child to college with the money and two renovated their houses. Most villagers are reluctant to run guesthouses, because "they can't tolerate male and female strangers staying in the same house," Gun Xiangdiu said.
Gun Gengdao's home is only a five-minute walk from Shi's guesthouse. She farms, weaves and makes clothes.
Her husband earns 300 to 400 yuan a month through tourist performances. The family's annual income is 10,000 yuan.
Her nine-year-old son attends primary school, while her younger son is only three.
"I want to make more money, but I don't know how," she said while applying egg white to stiffen a piece of cloth.
"I stopped performing after I got married," she said. When asked why she didn't work in the county, the woman replied, "I don't know anyone there."
In fact, the farthest from home she has ever been is the county seat, where villagers travel by van occasionally to buy clothes.
She wants to go to Beijing. "I would like to see Beijing," she said. "But no one will take me there. I don't know the way. I have been out of school so long that I have already forgotten the meaning of characters."
Her elder son wears his hair in the customary bun. He wants a gun like his father's. "But we cannot afford one," the woman said.
She also has no idea where to buy one. A villager, Wang Lenghou, used to make guns. But in recent years he has stopped.
When Xinhua tried to call Wang, his family said the man was not at home. He was in the field, farming.
