"The world is so big, I want to see it", to see a unique beauty, lament the magic of nature; taste the rich and diverse cuisine, experience the creativity of human beings for ingredients; play a thrilling project, temporarily get rid of the shackles of life. This should be the charm of travel for most people, but for me, the greatest pleasure of travel is to appreciate the characteristic traditional culture of each strange country.
Experienced the romance of France, the passion of Spain, the beauty of Italy... But to ask which country impressed me the most, the answer must be Vanuatu. This country located in the South Pacific not only has a deep friendship with China, but also retains the original tribal civilization, which deeply shocked me.
In today's highly developed technology, do there really exist traditional tribes far from modern civilization? How do they live? What are the special customs? These doubts are answered in Vanuatu, China's "South Pacific Pakistan Railway".
The absurdity of the strange civilization
The first impression of Vanuatu's indigenous tribal culture stemmed from a documentary filmed by the British Channel Four, when the station invited five indigenous people from the Kastam Naked Tribe on Tana Island to visit the UK and stay for a month. During this month, the violent collision between primitive civilization and modern social life made the life of the five indigenous people very uncomfortable. They felt unable to adapt in the face of a very different way of life, and the indifference shown by the British towards them also hurt them.
According to the legend of Tana Island, Tana Island and Great Britain Island were once one country, surfaced in volcanic eruptions, and then separated in natural evolution, according to their ideas, the British should be the lost brothers of the Tana Islanders, but the reality is that they have not felt a trace of brotherly enthusiasm here. A month of stumbling has given them a new understanding of Britons, who are deeply unfamiliar with the behavior of Britons who spend most of their time at work, believing that Britons lack "love, happiness, peace and respect".
It is really inconceivable that the life we are so accustomed to us can be extremely difficult for others to understand, and it has also aroused my desire to go to this magical country to find out.
The naked people who actually walked into Tana Island found that there was far more interesting in their culture than what was shown in the documentary. For example, the naked people who live in a place called Sulphur Bay and Shark Bay on the east coast of Tana Island have a strange custom: cargo worship. Once the local natives saw foreign advanced technological objects, they would worship them as gods.
The Tana Island native cargo cult originated during World War II, when the United States and Japan fought an unprecedented naval and air war in the Pacific, and the US military continuously transported building materials, arms and logistics materials from the mainland to the islands in the Pacific through landing ships, cargo ships and transport aircraft in order to provide timely supplies to the front-line navy. This magical scene shocked the natives who had never been in contact with industrial civilization, especially when they followed the US military and felt the thrill of jumping daily necessities from slash and burn to full level. But they don't realize that this is the result of scientific and technological progress, and only attribute it to the gift of the god of ship cargo
So when the U.S. troops withdrew and the goods no longer kept coming, they imitated what the U.S. military had done, making airplanes out of branches and coconut shells, carrying sharpened long sticks and even painting the words USA on their chests and backs. They decided that all the words and deeds of the U.S. military at that time were to please the gods, so as long as they imitated more and were more religious, planes and ships full of magical cargo would come again.
Today, this bizarre and absurd scene is still preserved, and every Friday, the natives of Iwo JimWan and Shark Bay are present
There was an all-night party in the clearing between the jungles, dressed up in costumes, dressed as soldiers in memory, and used a night of hymns to call for the arrival of the god of ship cargo.
Before I went, I thought it was just a show for tourists in the name of legend, but when I really participated in it, I realized how devout they were to it, and they really believed that one day, the savior John Fromm (actually a Logistics Officer in the United States Army during World War II) would return with wealth and happiness.
Stick to love and happiness with honesty
If the cult of goods gave me the initial shock, some of the traditional habits that the Naked people of Vanuatu have retained to this day are both surprising and appreciative. Travelogues about Vanuatu basically mention the Naked Cultural Village on Tana Island. In the world's only traditional villages that have not been immersed in modern civilization, there is still a very primitive way of life, men only use straw to cover their genitals, and women wear grass skirts naked, but there have been some new changes when I go, and young women have begun to cover their breasts with leaves.
If you just want to experience their way of life, you can wear the usual comfortable clothes and follow the established route set by the tour group, but you don't need to summon up much courage. But if you want to experience it deeply, if you really integrate it into their daily life, it will test your courage.
The gap between civilizations has natural barriers, and the villagers of the Naked Culture Village have long been accustomed to using song and dance performances in exchange for the applause of tourists, but if they want to make true friends, it is still necessary to spend effort to unload their defenses. The simplest and most effective way is to go with the flow, take off the cloak that symbolizes modern civilization, and experience the simple happiness of being a naked person with them.
The journey to explore the reality show "To the End of the World" is to open the hearts of local villagers in this way, with funny humor to show the big Zhang Wei, Bu Xueliang changed the previous image, bravely accepted the test, and broke the barrier between the guests and the local villagers in one fell swoop. Of course, the unique experience has also become their most vivid impression of Vanuatu.
Taking off the glitzy coat and making friends with the most authentic and honest side should be the original source of deep friendship, right? Unfortunately, many times we have lost the purity of the noisy city life, and the external things of identity, status, money, and power have become the consideration of making friends. Unexpectedly, a trip made me re-examine my existing life, which was also a kind of serendipity.
The natives of the Naked Culture Village are always willing to come up with all the best things to entertain friends from afar. So here you can not only enjoy their traditional songs and dances, but also experience their unique culture, such as drilling wood for fire, lifting leaves, etc., and even tasting lap-lap banana coconut cake and cava made in the traditional way.
If you are a friend like me who is curious about foreign cultures, I believe that Tana Island in Vanuatu will not disappoint you, although it is difficult to find the shadow of modern civilization here, but the local indigenous people will use their interesting culture to awaken the purity that we have lost or are missing.