Pictures of Chinese people - 56 ethnic groups

[ahfatzia]

Kazakh People 哈薩克族


Lives in yurt villages


Yurt denizens are always ready on a move, so erecting a yurt becomes a routine for some

With windows and door

A new village is born

Here's another village

Another one by the highway

Feels at home here, or anywhere

 

[ahfatzia]

Kazakh People 哈薩克族


Herders in the vast grassland


This are the best friends of herders

But for some, perhaps, a stool is the best friend

On the go

On the go again

Hmm, should be enough grass for 10 days here, let's raise the yurts!

 

[ahfatzia]

A wedding in Hainan island's 海南岛 most ancient and most traditional Li people 黎族 village


A stone bear the name of the village has been place by the entrance in the 60s

Friends and relatives from around the island bringing gifts and well wishes, but, navigating across this little pristine river is not a easy job for some

Almost at the same time the groom's welcome party is bringing home the bride from a distant village

.......and they too must cross the river like everybody else

Steep winding road

Is the bride getting tired or is it the tradition? My guess is both

Another welcome party and another tradition: she must leap pass the fire barefooted

 

[iajj]

one day i will retire and stop worrying about the permanent political divide among the human race and visit every corner of china to enjoy the unity of the 56 peoples wrought together, at least, by and in my own country.

thanks for the wonderful pictures.

 

[ahfatzia]

A wedding in Hainan island's 海南岛 most ancient and most traditional Li people 黎族 village


From here on the bridesmaid has to cover the brides head with an umbrella and all friends and relatives who gift jewelries would put them on her from here onward

Nearer to the groom's house

Another tradition: The bride has to cross the house's front door trestle with a machete on the inside floor

Paying respects to the groom's, now hers too, direct ancestors

Gifts bearing friends and relatives are still coming

Over 50 banquette tables outside the house

Every available space is taken, except the new couple's room, for food tables. A busy lady comes around to collect red envelope cash gifts

More food, more red envelopes, more alcohol and more drunks, including the bride

 

[ahfatzia]

Li or Hlai people 黎族


Li or Hlai people 黎族 are numbered about 1.3 million, mostly living Hainan Island where they are the largest minority ethnic group. They are one of the official recognized ethnic group in China. The Li are subdivided into the five branches of the Qi, Ha, Run, Sai and Meifu.

The Li spoken language belongs to the Tai-Kadai language family but most speak Cantonese Hainanese mixture of Chinese dialects. Li did not have a writing system until the 1950s, when the Latin script was adopted, however, the usage is not widely popular. They believe in traditional Chinese religions and have their indigenous gods as well. They suffered heavily during the Japanese invasion and for that they are held highly esteem by the Chinese government today.


An official portrait of a Li family

Distribution of Lis in Hainan

The Lis have more than a thousand years of history in Hainan

A recent Li gala in Hainan

Li's favorite traditional music instruments - kǒuxiāo 口箫

Li tapestry art is renowned throughout China

Just like painting, histories are recorded in these masterpiece

 

[ahfatzia]

Li people 黎族


Girls in traditional dresses

Pondering.....

Village women

Formal folks

Lis don't shake hands (nobody used to do in this part of the world anyway), they touch each other ears for good lucks

Some Lis headgear

 

[ahfatzia]

Li people 黎族


Li staple foods are rice, corn and sweet potato, they are also well known for their unique preparation of meat and vegetables; not least, their bamboo pole rice. The names given to dishes are particularly inventive. On any Li menu you could expect to find river eel, rainforest deer, surfing fish, five-legged pig, smoked egg in hot spring and horses hoof grass. Hainan Chicken is a renowned dish and their are many ways to make it.


Li's Hainan bamboo chicken and rice

A greenish marinated chicken

A salted succulent chicken with garnishes

Vegetable fatty pork stew

Rice balls withe selected meats

Deep fried flying fish

Lis like their deer meat

Rice pastries

 

[ahfatzia]

Li people 黎族


Li's bamboo dance

Li's culture dance

《槟榔·古韵》 culture festival

Festival for students

Water splashing

Sport competition

The big event in Hainan - tapestry competitions

A talented 9 year old is among the competitors

 

[ahfatzia]

Li people 黎族


A Li village in Hainan

Another one

Village lives

Boat shaped house

Village market

 

[ahfatzia]

Li people 黎族


A masterpiece tapestry

Li women learn this trade craft at tender ages

Part time or full time - bring in cash

The master. Notice the tattoo on her face

A big tradition for a Li woman - tattoos on her face and body

A tradition seems to be disappearing - newly aged ones are unwilling to carry on.

 

[Dubious]

i think india and china are the most diverse countries of the world.

I beg to differ. Though they may divide themselves to 50 odd lovely different identities, they still are 1 according to genetics! In fact, there isn't much gene pool in the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese!

It is also roughly the same for the South Indians and SOME traditional North Indians!

One of the most diverse would be the African Americans as they are 2 LARGE gene pools pulled together!

Another diverse group are the Malaysians and also a large group of goray because as long as they are goray they do not usually further divide because going so deep into their ancestry is not actually much of their concern! PLUS they also marry whomever they fall for NOT whom their family arranges or within a tribe or village as in Asia!

Lovely thread!! A lot of knowledge of the different groups of people!

 

[Ayush]

I beg to differ. Though they may divide themselves to 50 odd lovely different identities, they still are 1 according to genetics! In fact, there isn't much gene pool in the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese!

It is also roughly the same for the South Indians and SOME traditional North Indians!

One of the most diverse would be the African Americans as they are 2 LARGE gene pools pulled together!

Another diverse group are the Malaysians and also a large group of goray because as long as they are goray they do not usually further divide because going so deep into their ancestry is not actually much of their concern! PLUS they also marry whomever they fall for NOT whom their family arranges or within a tribe or village as in Asia!

Lovely thread!! A lot of knowledge of the different groups of people!

thnx for this info.
and cute avatar.

 

[ahfatzia]

Dai people 傣族


Dai people 傣族, numbered about 1.3 million, are one of several ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture 西双版纳州 and the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture (both in southern Yunnan, China), but by extension can apply to groups in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Burma when Dai is used to mean specifically Tai Lue, Chinese Shan or even Tai in general. The Dai people form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, and are closely related to the Lao and Thai people who form a majority in Laos and Thailand. Originally, the Tai, or Dai, lived closely together in modern Yunnan Province until political chaos and wars in the north at the end of the Tang and Song Dynasty and various nomadic peoples prompted some to move further south into modern Laos then Thailand.

The two main languages of the Dai, aside from speaking Mandarin and writing Chinese, are Dai Lü (Sibsongbanna Dai) and Dai Nüa (Daihong Dai). The written language was derived from Devanagari and differs from region to region which belong to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong group of Sino-Tibetan languages. The Dai peoples follow their traditional religion as well as Theravadin Buddhism, and maintain similar customs and festivals (such as the Sankrant) to the other Tai-speaking peoples. They are among the few natives groups in China who nominally practice the Theravada school of Buddhism. The Dai are primarily farmers so they mostly live close to the water in low-latitude and low-altitude areas, where the climate is warm and humid with plenty of rain


Official portrait of a Dai family

Jinghong 景洪市 Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture 西双版纳傣族自治州, bordering Shan State of Myanmar, unofficial capital of Dai people

Jinghong City on the left bank of Mekong River, the bridge leads to Myanmar

A map of Tai-Kadai Language speakers

Xishuangbanna Valley, a huge low lying valley where many ethnic groups in China live

Various Dai alphabets

A Chinese - Dai dictionary

Teaching Dai Language to an adult class in a primary school in Jinghong

 

[ahfatzia]

Dai people 傣族


The ancient southern "Silk and Tea Road" market town of the Dai

The Dai people of yesteryear

Today the Dai tea brands are known throughout China and the world