China: Young Zhuang women dancing at the Guangxi Provincial Museum, Nanning, Guangxi Province

The Zhuang people (Chinese: 壮族; pinyin: Zhuàngzú; Zhuang: Bouxcuengh) are an ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces. They form one of the 55 minority ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. With the Buyi, Tay–Nùng, and other northern Tai speakers, they are sometimes known as the Rau or Rao. Their population, estimated at 18 million people, puts them second only to the Han Chinese and makes the Zhuang the largest minority in China. Nanning was originally founded during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), although there was a county seat here called Jinxing as far back as 318 CE.

Opened to foreign trade by the Chinese in 1907, Nanning grew rapidly. From 1912 to 1936 it was the provincial capital of Guangxi, replacing Guilin.

Due to its proximity to the Vietnamese border Nanning became a major centre for supplying Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnam during the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War).

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia