Asian Geographic - April 2018

(singke) #1

Here, women care for the home, which is


shared with livestock. Toilets might be next to


animal pens. Clothes aren’t always spotless. On


a scroll, in an old syllabic script, is recorded


the tribe’s precious history, safeguarded by the


village chief.


Its people may be poor, but the irony is


rich: The same mountains that ensconce the Yi


people and keep their traditions safe from fast-


developing modern China have also ensured


their exclusion from sanitation and healthcare


initiatives – and prevented them from selling


produce to the cities.


Exempt from the country’s onetime one-


child policy, many Yi have big families, but


cannot afford to send more than a couple of


children – often boys – to school. As with


every other hill tribe, there’s been a gradual


exodus: Young men are heading to the cities in


search of a better life, leaving behind women,


children, and the elderly.


Stepping into


Sichuan’s


Daliang Mountains


is like stepping


back in time.


Photos Claudia Xiaoli Lee

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