Dulongjiang Valley Culture
Dulongjiang, also Dulong River , originates from Tibet, flowing through the northwest corner of Yunnan then into Burma. Its Yunnan section is about 80km long, sandwiched by Mt. Dandanglika on the west and Mt. Gaoligong on the east. Amongst the lofty mountains bordering Tibet and Yunnan is the Dulong River Vallley, at the west slope of the north part of the Gaoligong Shan. The Dulongjiang Valley is where the 3 ethnic minorities – Dulong(Drung), Nu, Lisu, inhabit for ages. These ethnic groups promote colorful and long-standing Dulongjiang culture.
Costumes of Dulong People
Women of the Dulong ethnic group normally wear black and white striped gunny or cotton clothes and the men wear a pair of short trousers. The Dulong people, male and female, wear their hair down to their eyebrows in front and down to their shoulders behind. Both women and men like to have their upper chest wrapped with a long piece of gunny from the left armpit to the right shoulder, leaving the left shoulder uncovered.Men prefer wearing a crossbow and a hunting knife on the waist, which make them appear to be bold and brave. Women love to wear garments with coloured chain necklaces.
Facial Tattoo
The Dulong women used to tattoo their faces in the past. When a girl reached the age of 12 or 13, she had her face tattooed. Dulong women living in different areas had tattoos of different designs and on different parts of the face. Most of the women in the lower reaches of the Dulong River had tattoos of vertical lines only on the left and right of the philtrum, which look like a man’s beard. Today, the facial tattoo can only be found with Dulong women.
