Napo County 那坡县

Getting oriented

Jingxi (靖西) lies to the east and north-east, Vietnam to the south and south-west, and Funing County (富宁县) in Yunnan to the west and north-west. The county measures 38 kilometres from east to west and 67 from north to south. The county town, Chengxiang (城厢镇), is 254 kilometres from Baise and 405 from Nanning (南宁); the Pingmeng (平孟) border crossing is 48 kilometres from the Vietnamese city of Cao Bang.

History

People lived here in the Neolithic. The Song set up Zhen'an Dong (镇安峒) here and in 1114 made it Zhen'an Prefecture (镇安州); in the Ming the area was known as Little Zhen'an (小镇安). It came under a court-appointed official in 1766 and was named Zhenbian County (镇边县) in 1886. The name changed to Mubian (睦边县) on 27 October 1953 and to Napo on 20 January 1965, following a remark by Mao Zedong; the county government says no other of China's more than 2,800 counties was renamed this way.

What to see

Napo is the main home of the Black-clad Zhuang (黑衣壮), a Zhuang group named for dressing wholly in black. Their cloth is dyed in indigo more than ten times, with beating and drying in between, until it turns a pure black; women wear a large black headscarf folded into a triangle. Napo Zhuang folk songs (那坡壮族民歌), sung by this group, entered the first national intangible heritage list in 2006 and fall into six types with more than 160 sets of songs.

The county's Yi hold the Tiaogong festival (跳弓节) over three days from the eighth to the tenth of the fourth lunar month. Villagers plant golden bamboo in the dance ground, bring out bronze drums and dance around the bamboo, recalling ancestors who won a battle with bamboo bows.

Food and local products

Niu ganba (牛干巴), dried beef, came from Yunnan, but Napo cooks make their own version in autumn and winter. Beef from the hind leg and other cuts is rubbed with salt, Napo star anise and Napo cassia, then cured, sun-dried, air-dried and fried; the county government describes the spicy result as a blend of the techniques for salted meat and for larou (腊肉, cured meat).

Highlights

• Black-clad Zhuang 黑衣壮: Zhuang group in Napo whose cotton cloth is dyed in indigo more than ten times until pure black.
• Napo Zhuang folk songs 那坡壮族民歌: On the first national intangible heritage list, 2006.
• Yi Tiaogong festival 跳弓节: Three days of dancing around golden bamboo from the eighth day of the fourth lunar month.
• Niu ganba 牛干巴: Dried beef seasoned with Napo star anise and cassia.