Miao women selling bananas in Huangcaoba, Yunnan 1993

Ethnic minority child in Yuanyang, Yunnan 1993

Miao women in Jinping, Yunnan in 1993

Miao women in Jinping, Yunnan in 1993. One of the interesting things about Jinping is that there are at least 3 different ethnic minorities living there - the red hat Yao, the Miao and the Hani. You can find photos of all 3 groups on this blog.

River ferry southern China 1993

An old ferry for crossing a river in southern China in 1993.

Ethnic minority women shopping in southern China in 1993

Ethnic minority women shopping in southern China in 1993.

Yao woman prospecting for gold and mercury in Jinping 1993

Yao woman prospecting for gold and mercury in Jinping 1993. She and her husband showed us some mercury they had found.

Ethnic minority woman in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

An ethnic minority woman in Jinping, Yunnan 1993. Jinping is a fantastic place - a real melting pot of different ethnic minority groups and well worth a visit. It is off the beaten track, hardly anybody knows about it and that's probably what makes it such a great place to visit.

Close-up of Hani woman in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

A close-up of a Hani woman in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

Yao girl in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

Unmarried Yao minority girl in Jinping, Yunnan 1993.

Hani women in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

Hani women shopping in Jinping in Yunnan in 1993.

Yao man smoking a water pipe in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

A Yao minority man was smoking a water pipe by a river in Jinping, Yunnan 1993 while his wife was prospecting for gold in the water.

Jinping market day scene 1993

A group of red hat Yao minority women chat as a Miao minority woman looks on in Jinping in Yunnan province, southern China in the Autumn of 1993.

Ethnic minority child in Fulu, Guangxi in 1993

Here is a picture of an ethnic minority child in Fulu in Guangxi province in southern China. Fulu is famous for its fireworks festival.

The extraverts

These Hani women saw me sitting holding my camera by the side of the path and posed for a photo. They thought it was all great fun. We also went to visit a Hani woman in her house and took her photo. When we got back home we posted a copy to her - I wonder if she ever received it.

All this took place in Jinping which received few foreign visitors at the time in 1993.

Drum tower in Dong village near Congjiang in Guizhou province southern China 1993

Drum tower in Dong village near Congjiang in Guizhou province southern China 1993.

Dong village by the river in Guizhou 1993

A small Dong village by the river with a drum tower in Guizhou near Congjiang in 1993.

A wonderful hat

This ethnic minority woman in southern China in 1993 is carrying a wonderful hat. The hats were wonderful in the markets and I bought one.

Bulang woman in Xishuangbanna 1993

Bulang woman in her house in a village in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, China in the Autumn of 1993.

Congjiang river scene, Guizhou 1993

This was the river scene in Congjiang, Guizhou Province in 1993.

Ethnic minority woman with basket on her back in southern China in 1993

Here is a picture showing the basket used by an ethnic minority woman in southern China to carry her shopping in 1993.

Houses in Xishuangbanna 1993

Beautiful Dai minority houses in Xishuangbanna in 1993.

Wind and rain bridge near Congjiang, Guizhou 1993

Another picture of the Dong minority wind and rain bridge near Congjiang in Guizhou Province in 1993. Beautiful!

Water buffalo in southern China in 1993

In 1993 there were water buffalo all over China. Here are a couple of them in some water.

A Dong village by the river between Fulu and Congjiang, 1993

This is a picture of a Dong village taken from the boat between Fulu and Congjiang in 1993. I believe the village had no road access and was rather isolated in the border region between Fulu in Guangxi Province and Congjiang in Guizhou Province. Often the most interesting places to visit are in border regions the furthest from the seat of government where the influence of the capital city is least.

Wood being transported on the river, Fulu Guangxi 1993

This picture shows wood being floated down the river at Fulu in 1993. This is a very efficuient form of transportation, much better than trucks. I have the feeling that we are going in the wrong direction and so-called progress is causing more and more damage to the planet. A crunch point is coming, but I don't know how soon.

Congjiang street scene 1993

In this picture taken in Congjiang in Guizhou province in 1993 there were no cars. It was quiet and pleasant and most people were walking everywhere. They didn't need cars as everything they needed was within walking distance. If they needed to go further afield they took public transport. Bliss!

River transportation from Fulu to Congjiang

This is the boat that carried people up the river from Fulu to Congjiang across the provincial border from Guangxi to Guizhou.

Village in Xishuangbanna in 1993

This beautiful village in Xishuangbanna was untouched in 1993. No concrete buildings, no road access and no cars. I wonder what it's like now.

Two children

This photo shows a little boy in modern clothes looking at a little girl in traditional clothing. What is he thinking?

Woman who makes her own clothes, China 1993

Here is a Chinese ethnic minority woman who makes her own clothes using material she has dyed herself. She doesn't go to the shopping centre to do her shopping. In fact she's probably never seen one. People in the developed world used to make their own clothes too but now clothes are so cheap that nobody bothers anymore and nobody has the time. We're all too busy working to earn money to buy things. We now have so many clothes that we never wear. This woman probably only has one or two outfits at most. Her lifestyle is efficient, relaxed and she doesn't have a boss telling her what to do all the time.

Woman smoking a pipe, Xishuangbanna 1993

Here is a minority woman smoking a pipe in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan in 1993.

Man on horse cart, Yunnan 1993

In one of the towns we visited in Yunnan, there were numerous horse carts and the men driving them were standing up like this. What a good sense of balance they must have!

Dong woman in Congjiang, Guizhou 1993

Here is a Dong woman in Congjiang, Guizhou in southern China in 1993. She is demonstrating a great way to carry your shopping home if you haven't got a car. The Dong lifestyle was very efficient in terms of use of resources with very little wastage. Their villages were neat and tidy with no sign of rubbish tips of discarded electrical goods. They appeared to be fit and healthy and to have enough to eat. Somebody once described China's ethnic minorities as "pure" and I think that is a good word to describe the Dong. The book about them that I have is called "The Dong - A hidden civilization" and now I can understand what it means. I wish we could all live more like them.

The ferry at Fulu, Guangxi 1993

This is the ferry in operation at Fulu in Guangxi Province in 1993. The river was also used for transportation as the road alongside it had not been finished yet. River transportation is a very environmentally-friendly way of getting about as it does not require construction, unlike roads or railways. Let's make use of our rivers again!

Dong women in Fulu, Guangxi, China 1993

Dong women in Fulu, Guangxi Province ion southern China in 1993.

Bulang minority house in Xishuangbanna 1993

This is a Bulang minority house in Xishuangbanna. We visited one of these houses in 1993 and the owner told us she was planning to build a new house and that she wanted a concrete one which wouldn't leak when it rained.

Woman in her house in Xishuangbanna, 1993

This woman was captured on her "balcony" in Xishuangbanna in 1993. We visited various villages in Xishuangbanna and were invited into people's homes on a couple of occasions. The people were extremely welcoming and friendly to strangers and made us feel welcome. We had very interesting chats with them in my limited Chinese and gave the children some fruit. I couldn't help thinking that if these people came to the West to visit us they would not be treated in the same way.

Dong woman drying cloth in village near Congjiang, Guzhou, China 1993

This is the cloth the Dong people make their clothes from. This photo was taken in 1993 in a village near Congjiang in Guizhou Province southern China in 1993.

Dong boy playing with a stick and hoop in a village near Congjiang, Guizhou in 1993

Take a close look at this Dong boy in a village near Congjiang in 1993. He was having great fun with such a simple toy. Compare this to the toys we use in the West and thing which is better for the planet.

Detail on Dong drum tower in village near Congjiang, Guizhou 1993

This photo shows a detail on a Dong drum tower in a village near Congjiang in Guizhou Province in southern China. The photo was taken in Autumn 1993. We could certainly learn a lot from the Dong people's non-materialistic style of living, at least at that time. I wonder if they've all got computers, cars and mobile phones now or do they still live the same way they did before.

Yao prospectors, Jinping, Yunnan 1993

Red hat Yao 红头瑶族 minority people prospecting for gold in the river in Jinping 金平, Honghe, Yunnan 1993. The red hat Yao have their own spoken language but no written language.

Dong drumtower in village near Congjiang, Guizhou, China 1993

Here is a beautiful Dong minority drum tower in a village near Congjiang in Guizhou Province, China. The drumtowers are used for village meetings and activities like a kind of civic centre which says a lot about the Dong people. We met some children in one and they played with my camera. One of the boys was also playing with a stick and hoop toy which he was having great fun with. We could learn a lot from these people!

Monkey carvings on Dong drum tower near Congjiang, Guizhou, China 1993

This photo shows the carving of the three wise monkeys on a drum tower in a Dong village near Congjiang in Guizhou Province, China.

Wind and rain bridge near Congjiang, Guizhou 1993

Here is a photo of a wind and rain bridge designed and built by members of the Dong minority near Congjiang in Guizhou Province, China in 1993.

Dai woman in Yuanjiang, Yunnan 1993

Dai woman in Yuanjiang, Yunnan 1993.

Buddhist monks in Xishuangbanna

Buddhist monks on bicycles in Xishuangbanna.

Dong people doing their washing in the river

Here are some Dong minority people doing their washing in the river in their village near Congjiang in Guizhou Province, China, in 1993.

Dong People

Look at the scales they are using to weigh things with but I'm not sure what they were selling, probably fruit or vegetables by the Jin.

Woman at market in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan 1993

Wow, look at this headgear. How long did it take her to get ready to go out?

This woman was snapped at the weekly market in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan in 1993.

Bulang Girl, Xishuangbanna 1993

This is a beautiful Bulang girl at a market in Xishuangbanna in 1993