Salars

Tea

羊皮筏子 yángpí fázi — inflated goatskin floats lashed to a wooden frame, called “sutu luhu” by the Salars; for seven centuries they carried people and cargo down the Yellow River from Xunhua to Lanzhou when there were no roads through the gorges. On the return trip, market goods from Hezhou and Xining came up into the valleys, including 茯砖茶 fúzhuānchá brick tea, from which 熬茶 áochá is brewed here. Salar ancestors came from Samarkand, and the word “sarta”, which gave the neighbors their name, meant “merchant”. Xunhua Salar Autonomous County on the Yellow River, Hualong.

Headwear

麦草帽 — a Salar hat of sewn wheat-straw braid, summer workwear of the Xunhua rivermen (the furthest choice from the prayer 号帽): low rounded crown, short pressed brim, edge trimmed with dark braid all around, dark woven cord along the crown base — a light warm field with dark edging. Worn plainly: no transverse crease and no slit. Accent: a sprig of two dry dark-umber twisted tea leaves tucked behind the cord above the left ear.

Object

The raftsman’s oar moved into the hands: a short work oar held with one blade-grip hand like a staff, narrow wooden blade at the hip, edge bound with tin and chipped from use, wet tea leaves stuck near the blade heel from a soaked bundle.

Clothing

White shirt, black sleeveless vest, sash, over it a short leather raftsman’s apron, trousers rolled up.

Palette

Straw-yellow crown braid, white shirt cloth, charcoal-black vest, sun-bleached oar wood, tin edging.