Chinese Ethnic Groups

Chinais a muti-national country. There are 56 ethnic groups in the country. The largest population among them is Han Chinese, which accounts for 91.59%. The other 55 ethnic minorities are accounting for 8.41%. Major ethnic minorities are Zhuang Minority, Mongolian Minority, Hui Minority, Miao Minority, Dong Minority, Uygur Minority, Manchu Minority, Tibetan Minority and Yao Minority.

Zhuang Minority

Zhuang ethnic group has the largest population among the 55 ethnic groups. Most of Zhuang people inhabit in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. They have their own languages, which can be divided into northern and southern dialects. Because of living in the south China, their daily staple food is rice and corn. Zhaung people have their own festivals and customs. The famous Singing Festival belongs to Zhuang ethnic groups. Young boys and girls will compete in singing during the festival. It is a way of dating. But most of the festivals are not celebrated in the urban areas. You can still some traditional festival celebrations in the rural areas or villages.

Mongolian Minority

Most of the Mongolians live in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jilin, Helongjiang and Liaonin Province. Because of living on the vast grassland, Mongolian people are good at horse riding and archery. Mongolians have their own spoken and written language too. Beef and mutton are their daily staple food. Milk is their daily drink. Nadam festival is the most important festival for Mongolian Minority. It is always celebrated in late August and will last for five to seven days. During the festival, there will be competitions of shooting, wrestling, and horse-riding.

Hui Minority

The majority of Hui Minority Groups are living in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The population of Hui people in China is about 643,238. Islam is their religion and Chinese is their spoken and written language. As the other minority groups in China, Hui Minority Group has its own taboos. They don’t wail in a funeral. Young people are not allowed to sit behind an elder member of the group. Pork is forbidden to eat in the group.