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It may be safe to say that few places on earth can match the Nujiang Canyon in terms of cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. People of 14 ethnic groups live side by side peacefully in this southwest China area, where at least four religions, plus numerous folk beliefs, coexist in harmony. For all this, plus a surpassing scenic beauty and a unique cultural heritage, people in their tens of thousands have come to see, to enjoy and, above all, to be inspired.

The Nujiang Canyon lies in the northwest of Yunnan Province, southwest China.Which encompasses the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture.Nestling deep in mountains rising 3,000 meters above sea level on an average, the area used to be almost inaccessible to the outside world, and parts of it still are. The area remains somewhat mysterious as many locals still stick to their primitive styles of life and its ecological conditions have largely been preserved.

The Lisus are the largest of the 14 ethnic groups living in the Nujiang Canyon. The group has a population of close to 600,000, accounting for 4.48% of the combined population of all the ethnic minority groups in Yunnan Province.

The word “Lisu” means “people inhabiting mountain slopes covered by chestnut and oak trees, who live on millet and buckwheat flour.” At I discovered in the area, most Lisu villages are on sun-facing mountain slopes overlooking the Nujiang River that keeps washing down below. The villages are clusters of wooden or straw huts, the largest having a hundred or so families and the smallest, just a dozen or two. People in a village invariably belong to the same tribe and are therefore bound by a blood relationship. In a village with a “mixed” population, there is bound to be a “dominating tribe,” which is revered as well by those with different ancestral roots.

According to some historians, ancestors of the Lisus lived on the northwest China highlands and about 2,000 years ago, they began to migrate southward. What prompted them to leave their homeland, wars or a desire to find a better place to live in? This is a mystery yet to be cracked. But one thing is for sure: somewhere between 1,500-1,000 years ago, the Lisus were among a variety of ethnic minority groups who trekked through what is now the Tibetan-Yi Corridor to settle in places on the Yunnan-Tibet border. Some of these groups eventually settled in what is now Xichang area of Sichuan Province, which neighbors Tibet Autonomous Region. The Lisus, however, continued their trek until they stopped at the north side of the Hengduan - a mountain range that snakes from northwest to southeast, where Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan meet. They stayed there for several hundred years, where they thrived by taking advantage of the plentiful rainfall and mild climate that were good for crops. Nevertheless, they began migrating again after they found a “gateway” in the mountain range. Is it that this “gateway,” so to speak, inspired them to leave and finally settled in the Nujiang Canyon? No one can answer the question.

Anyway, the Lisus became permanent residents in the area about 300 years ago and shortly after their arrival, they were able to mix up with people of the Nu and Derung who had come earlier. The area was infested with fierce animals and it so happened that many of the new comers were good at using bows and arrows. The Nus and Derungs willingly shared their land with the new comers, feeling safer living with them. As time went by, mutual dependence between people of different ethnic groups evolved into mutual respect, a tradition that has ensured peace and harmony until today.