Minorities in Lijiang

The people in Lijiang are predominantly Naxi. The one child per family doesn't apply to minorities. This family has 3 kids, one of them is not in the picture. This kid is so cute, I simply had to take his picture or her picture. I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl.

This is the Shaman or a Dongba sorcerer, he wanted 5 Yuan for his picture. I smiled, took his picture and walked away. They are invited to special ceremonies to chant scriptures. The Naxi believed in the Dongba religion which is a mixture of Tibetan Buddhism and Daoism. They have their own script, their own language and their own music.

Naxi women in their traditional clothing.

Here comes the Shaman, all dressed up.

A native at the loom, I think, this is a Mosuo girl, they are found mainly in Lugu lake, to the north of Yunnan province.

This is the reason for the hordes of tourists in Lijiang, a Unesco world heritage site designation.

Local men playing Chinese chess. My father is a champion Chinese chess player. I couldn't read the Chinese letters to save my life.

Every day at 3pm as the tour buses begin to deposit their passengers and as the planes does the same thing, there is a deluge of tourists in old town Lijiang. Sifang square, which in the morning is deserted, start to fill with people. The local women come into the square in their native costumes and hang out. The men folk bring their horses so the city bound tourists can have their pictures taken with the horses and the natives and they can ride the horses around town. The Shaman makes his entrance to a huge fanfare of drum beating. It's quite wonderful to watch. This is why we come to Lijiang, to see the cute old village with its Naxi/Chinese style architecture and cute minorities and of course local cuisine and lots of shopping. The countryside surrounding the old village is as interesting. It is a fun place to visit. I like it. Lijiang is so beautiful.