China: Mosuo girl and friend outside a restaurant in Lijiang Old Town, Yunnan Province

The Mosuo (also Moso or Musuo), but known often to themselves as the Na, are a small ethnic group living in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, close to the border with Tibet. With a population of approximately 40,000, most of them live in the Yongning region and around Lugu Lake, high in the Tibetan Himalayas.

Although the Mosuo are culturally distinct from the Nakhi, the Chinese government places them as members of the Nakhi (aka Naxi) minority.

The Old Town of Lijiang dates back more than 800 years and was once an important town on the old Tea Horse Road.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia