Fire worshipping ceremony, Mile

D1 Feb 26 Kunming to Mile（143KM/2.5HRS）
We went to Mile to see the fire worshipping ceremony. The bus costed us RMB 55 per person run from the Passenger Terminal near the Kunming Railway Station to Mile.

Arrived Mile in the noon, we stayed overnight at Banshan Hot Spring. 

In the afternoon, we visited the Dong Feng Grape Square of Mile County, the Endless Grape Garden of Yunnan Red Wine Factory and were lucky to discern the whole process of local wine making.

D2 Feb 27 Mile
Heading to the Hongwan Village. It is 22 kilometers over an asphalt mountain road from the county seat of Mile to Xiyi Township, where Hongwan Village is located.

It describes how the Axi tribe had been using natural fire in primitive times until a terrible flood extinguished it all. The flood occurred in early springtime, when the weather was freezing cold. The Axi stamped their feet, rubbed their hands and hugged each other to keep warm. A villager named Mudeng noticed from their actions that heat was produced by friction. He cleverly rubbed a wooden rod against a log until it finally caught a flame. The Axi people had fire and warmth once again, and from that day to this, they have referred to fire as mudeng.

The Axi practice polytheism, and believe that divinity manifests itself in every object in the universe in one form or another. They consider themselves descended from the tiger, and worship tiger-shaped totems. They respect the phallus with calabashes and stones. They worship everything: ancestors, heroes, demons, and divine objects, and of course, natural gods such as those of fire and water. As their god of fire is also an ancestor, the celebration for Mudeng is probably their most fascinating.

The ceremony took place on the third day of the second month according to the Chinese lunar calendar (around early to mid March), the day when Mudeng was said to have created fire. By reenacting the legendary event, the Axi people pay homage to the great ancestor who brought them out of the cold and dark, and they beg his spirit to protect their safety, happiness and prosperity.

D3  Feb 28 Mile to Kunming
After breakfast at a family-run inn, we were heading back to Kunming.