Naxi girls twisting threads, photo taken by Che Wenlong in 1984. [Photo/ China Photographers Association]

Naxi ethnic group

Inhabiting Yunnan province, the Naxi people live on farming, stockbreeding and handicrafts. Reaches of the Jinshajiang River is abundant in botanical resources such as trees and medicinal herbs. The Lijiang horse has also enjoyed the reputation for years of one of the 'Three treasures of Lijiang' because of its ability to transport goods in mountainous area.

Most of the young Naxi people insist that they have one spouse and usually they have a very complicated process to protect their monogamous marriage. But for those living beside Luguhu Lake in Lijiang, they still keep the 'walking' marriage which is the only remaining vestige of a matrilineal clan among all the ethnic groups of China.