The Bai women wash vegetables along the Erhai Lake, photo taken by Cheng Minggui and Diao Haisheng. [Photo/ China Photographers Association]

Bai ethnic group

Inhabiting Yunnan, the Bai people are masters of artistic creativity including architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and other craft techniques such as lacquer work. The great Three Pagodas in Dali, having stood since the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and resembling the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian are excellent examples of Bai creativity and skill.

Contemporarily, their dance and music spread among the Han people after becoming accepted as part of the court entertainment. For the diet, they prefer sharp, cold and spicy flavor, so they prefer cured ham or fish eaten with rice or flour; though some people in the mountains eat corn as a staple food.