Ethnicity & custom in Guangxi

Updated: 2005-09-28 10:16

Population & Ethnicity

Guangxi has a total population of 48.57 million. The population of minority ethnic groups accounts for 38.4%, including 32.9% of Zhuang ethnic group. Zhuang ethnic group, with the population of 1576, is the largest minority in China.

Guangxi is multi-ethnic region, where a number of ethnic groups live, including the largest groups such as the Zhuang, Han, Yao, Miao, Dong, Mulam, Maonan, Hui, Jing, Yi, Shui and Gelao, and some 25 smaller ones. The people of ethnic minority groups came to 17.956 million by 1999, accounting for 38.1 percent of the region’s total. The Zhuang is the largest ethnic minority group in the region, which has a population of 15.38 million.

Custom

The Zhuang, Miao, Yao, Dong and seven other minority communities all maintain their own festivals and customs. These peoples often wear their native garb, colorful and bright costumes made of hand-woven cloth and embroidered with exquisite designs. The women tend to favor silver ornaments such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, hairpins and buttons. Men and women alike are fond of singing and dancing. The many festivals and sacrificial rites unfailingly impress visitors with their hilarity or solemnity, as the case may be. In fact, if you come to Guangxi, don't think you can get away with merely sitting back and watching a few traditional ethnic performances: the local people, well known for their generosity, simplicity, hospitality and honesty, are more than likely to invite you to join in the fun. If this sounds appealing you may want to sign up for the Folk Customs Tour, which highlights the music of the Zhuang nationality, the dance of the Yao nationality, the festivals of the Miao nationality and the buildings and bridges of the Dong nationality.

Songs of the Zhuang nationality - Guangxi is known as the "Ses of Songs", because the Zhuang people are famous for singing their way through life. They sing of love, of play, of work, of sadness, of happiness, of celebration and of mourning. They sing to urge guests to drink at parties and to urge the gods to send rain for the crops. The Zhuangs also challenge each other's wit with antiphonal songs. Every spring and autumn, young people dress up and gather together to sing such songs at the “Singing Festival".

Dances of the Yao nationality - The Yao ethnic group has managed to preserve its ancient culture and folk customs, including its distinctive songs and dances. Festivals of the Yao people usually include all 18 types of dance still practiced, but favorites are the drum dance, catching-tortoise dance, soldiers'dance, eight-immortals dance and butterfly dance.

Festivals of the Miao nationality - The Miao ethnic group is famous for its many grand festivals. In Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, these celebrations include the drum festival, sowing festival, seedling festival and horse-fighting festivals. People can enjoy melodious music played on the "Lusheng", a reed-pipe wind instrument of the Miao people, and beautiful Lusheng dance performances. The hospitable Miao people are known to treat guests to a wide variety of local folk customs. While taking part in these activities, visitors can enjoy the colorful ribbons and painted eggshells used to decorate their surroundings.

Buildings of the Dong nationality - Architecture of the Dong people, who are residents of Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, the Dong people are well-Known for their industrious construction of bridges, roads and buildings. They believe these efforts will benefit future generations. The Wind-and-Rain Bridge is the symbol of the Dong nationality. Utilizing superb architectural and engineering techniques, the bridges are held together entirely by dovetail joints; no nails or bolts are used.

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