Waipokeng Village in Jingling

Waipokeng Village is located 42 kilometers southwest of Xinchang County, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, at the source of the Chengtan River, bordering Dongyang, Shengzhou, and Pan'an. The village has a total of 158 households, with a population of 520, including 21 party members and 8 committee cadres. Waipokeng used to be very poor, and there were several local sayings: 'There's a place called Waipokeng in Xinchang, where girls are advised not to marry into, meals consist of six-grain soup, work and travel are like following an ox plowing, lacking money, grain, and girls.' Nowadays, girls from over ten ethnic minorities, including the Miao, Dai, and Bai, have settled in Waipokeng Village. These brides who married into the village have learned to make tea and weave cloth. With their hard work and competence, their families quickly escaped poverty and became prosperous. These daughters-in-law, coming from different ethnic groups with diverse customs, have all learned to speak the local dialect, live in unity and respect, and coexist harmoniously. During the agricultural off-season, they gather together, wear their ethnic costumes, sing folk songs, and dance, creating a joyful atmosphere and becoming a beautiful sight. It is reported that the village now has 35 ethnic minority residents. The well-known 'Number One Ethnic Village in Southern Jiangnan' has become a great place for tourism and sightseeing, attracting many urban visitors for sightseeing, tourism, and creative photography. Visitors can experience the local rural life by 'staying in a farmer's house (century-old traditional dwellings), doing farm work (grinding tofu, making glutinous rice cakes, digging bamboo shoots, picking seasonal fruits and vegetables, weaving handicrafts, etc.), and eating farm food (corn cakes, hand-ground tofu...). They can also visit the 'Southern Jiangnan Ethnic Village Specialty Exhibition Hall' to see original spinning wheels, looms, waterwheels, bridal sedans, pestles, and other characteristic exhibits, experience the handicraft making of various ethnic groups; at the same time, guests can wear various ethnic costumes, sing and dance with the ethnic minority girls, learn to make various handicrafts, participate in ethnic festivals, and experience the unique charm of the Southern Jiangnan Ethnic Village.