THE DERUNG

THE PATTERNS AND COLORS OF LIFE THE DERUNG The most striking features are the facial tattoos worn by the older women. However, nowadays younger women are not tattooed. The practice was always controversial, even among the Derung themselves. The markings were applied at the onset of puberty, usually at 12 or 13 years of age. Today the markings are no longer considered beautiful and only around 34 women now have them. An older woman would score the skin with a bamboo stick or a heated piece of metal. The patterns varied from group to group. In this case, the woman has a primitive butterfly design. skin was punctured with a sharp stick and then soot and a herb extract were dabbed into the wounds. CLOTHING Although traditonally both sexes wore highly colored clothes. modern-day wear is less flamboyant and is mainly worn by women. HOUSING The traditional ke'eng long house - made of logs in the north of the region and bamboo further south - has a large, oblong room which serves as a communal area, and two rows of smaller rooms at the back. Each small room has a central fireplace. Both men and women wear their hair long. It reaches down to their eyebrows at the front and their shoulders at the back. Bamboo and wood Men still use crude utensils, such as the machete-style knife. They are skillful hunters with the slingshot. Houses have a fire pit to provide heat and fuel for cooking. Log house Derung pipes are unusual. They are made of bamboo and wood and have distinctive bulbous ending. Houses are usually raised on stilts to allow water to flow underneath. LANGUAGE The language is part of the Tibetan-Myanmarese group of the Chinese-Tibetan family. Like the language of the neighboring Nu ethnic group, it does not have a written form. Traditionally, records were made and messages transmitted by engraving notches in pieces of wood and by tieing knots. LIVING HIGH GEOGRAPHY 6000m The Dulong River Valley extends 150 km from north to south. It is flanked on the east by Mt Gaoligong, 5.000 meters high, and on the west by Mt Dandanglika, 4,000 meters high. FOUR CUTS: Four workers are required. 5000m NORTHWESTERN LARGE CUT: An official is due to THREE SMALL CUTS: The official will be accompanied by YUNNAN PROVINCE 4000m arrive. three assistants. Xiongdang e ALTITUDES AT WHICH THE DERUNG LIVE 2,500 213 Dulong River Valley 3000m Enlarged Millimeters of precipitation annually million yuan invested in road construction since March 2011. area Kongdang 4,356 •Pukawang 2000m TROPOSPHERE Number of Derung people living in the Dulong River Valley Qinlandang 1000m planetary boundary layer Burj Khalifa 828m CHINA MYANMAR An 2004, a telecommunication transmitter was erected in the región, opening the world to the Derung and enabling them to communicate with people outside their village via their mobile phones. 500m BEIJING Sources: Gongshang county, www.china.org.cn, China Daily, emuseum.org.cn GUILLERMO MUNRO/ CHINA DAILY SEA LEVEL