Minorities in the Yunnan province, China
The Naxi minority
The Naxi (Chinese: 纳西族; pinyin: Nàxī Zú) are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. The Naxi are thought to have come originally from Tibet, and until recently maintained overland trading links with Lhasa and India. The Naxi form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The official Chinese government classification classes the Mosuo as part of the Nakhi people. However, despite similar origins and very striking resemblances from a linguistic point of view, the two groups are now culturally distinct, the Nakhi more influenced by Han Chinese culture, the Mosuo more influenced by Tibetan culture.
Naxi culture is largely a mixture of Tibetan and Han Chinese influences, with some indigenous elements. Especially in the case of their musical scores, it acts as the foundation of the Nakhi literature.
The Yi minority
Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 minor ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions. There are 3300 Yi peoples living in Hà Giang, Cao Bằng and Lào Cai provinces in northeastern Vietnam. A Yi from one area may not be able to communicate with a Yi from another area; and may or may not even agree that they both are Yi. Most Yi are farmers; herders of cattle, sheep and goats; and nomadic hunters. Only about one third of the Yi are literate. Most have no written language.
Religion
The Bai minority
Of the 1,858,063 Bai people, 80% live in concentrated communities in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, southwest China. The rest are scattered in Xichang and Bijie in neighboring Sichuan and Guizhou provinces respectively.
The Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture was founded in November 1956 after the completion of the democratic reform and socialist transformation.
The Bai’s language related to the Yi branch of the Tibetan-Myanmese group of the Chinese-Tibetan language family. The language contains a large number of Chinese words due to the Bai’s long contact with the majority Chinese ethnic group--Han.
The Lisu minority
The Lisu ethnic group numbers 634,912 people, and most of them live in concentrated communities in Bijiang, Fugong, Gongshan and Lushui counties of the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan Province. The rest are scattered in Lijiang, Baoshan, Diqing, Dehong, Dali, Chuxiong prefectures or counties in Yunnan Province as well as in Xichang and Yanbian counties in Sichuan Province, living in small communities with the Han, Bai, Yi and Naxi peoples.
The Tibetan minority
The Tibetans with a population of 5,416,021 mostly live in the Tibet Autonomous Region. There are also Tibetan communities in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The areas where Tibetans live in compact community are mostly highlands and mountainous country studded with snow-capped peaks, one rising higher than the other.
Mt. Qomolangma on the Sino-Nepalese border is 8,848 meters above sea level, the highest in the world. The Tibetan areas are crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with lakes.
