Tu People of China

Quanting Village

Published on 6-Dec-2009 by Ray Fried

We had the privilege to travel to Quanting to observe a festival of the "Tu" people. Quanting is located East of Xining 4 hrs. by bus. We traveled with one of Twyla's English students who comes from that village. We were invited to the student's home where we found her parents very hospitable and friendly although we could not speak or communicate directly.

What made this visit particularly interesting was the fact that Twyla's student's parents are part of the Tu people group which does not have a written language. Additionally they do not speak Mandarin which means that they are illiterate with no practical way of overcoming this situation. Furthermore, the Tu people group is a vanishing group. The culture will be lost if someone doesn't soon study and document it.

You can learn more about the Tu people by going to Wikipedia.

Photo Viewer

Below are some photos taken at the home of Twyla's student, the festival, and also around the village of Quanting. To view them, just click on any thumbnail below as a starting point. Then you can either press "N" for the next photo or "P" for the previous picture. If you place your mouse near the upper left or right of each expanded picture, you can also navigate by clicking on Prev or Next. When finished, click on "CloseX".