Red hat Yao woman in Jinping in 1993

Red hat Yao woman in Jinping in 1993.

Hani woman at Jinping on market day in 1993

A Hani woman looks pensive on market day in Jinping in southern Yunnan in 1993.

Miao couple in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

A Miao minority couple on market day at Jinping in southern Yunnan province in 1993.

Group of red hat Yao women in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

A Miao minority woman looks on as a group of red hat Yao women chat on market day in Jinping, Yunnan in 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.

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.

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.

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.

Miao minority women in Jinping, Yunnan 1993

Here are some Miao minority women in Jinping, Yunnan near the border at the end of the road. On the way to Jinping our bus had a puncture and we all had to get out of the bus. In Jinping there were Hani, Miao and Yao minorities (at least 2 different styles of clothing) and a fantastic market day when all the people came on tractors and whatever vehicles they could cram onto or on foot from the surrounding villages.

The Red Hat Yao of Jinping

The women of the red hat yao of Jinping in southern Yunnan Province shave their heads and wear a red hat on their heads when they are married. Prior to marriage they wear a kind of black wrap-around turban. I visited the area in 1993 and the terraces were impressive. One of the men had a gun which he fired into the ground as we left his village. That gave us a fright..