10th February, 2001.
Children Of A Minority Group In Xishuangbanna. Visit Up Rain Gutted Track To Stilted House. Forehead Strap Bamboo Panniers On Verandah.
Children of minority groups in the remoter parts of China, must be very precious to the families, not only for the survival of a particular group, but also to ensure that in later years they will take on the task of working on the family lands, and caring for parents and grandparents in their times of need.
 Xishuangbanna is near the border of Burma and to get there we flew from Kunming to Jinghong. There are primeval forests in this area and we were told that therein tigers stalked their prey, but we saw none of them ! We were taken on a visit to one minority group, which at the time, numbered less than 2000. From the roadside we walked up a steep earth track,
 heavily gutted by rain water, to a stilted house of wood where all the occupants were elderly, except for one younger woman who was cooking a meal in a large pan perched on three stones over a wood fire. On the verandah were two conical panniers, the likes of which we had seen on the backs of women during our journey, and which they supported with a forehead strap. Apart from the elderly members, the only other people we saw in the small community were young children, who showed as much interest in their visitors as we did in them.
In one group, two young girls were carrying younger children on
 their backs, already bearing some of the responsibilites of survival, while parents were working elsewhere. Behind the group, a large black, pot bellied pig snuffled and snorted as it investigated anything on the bare earth that looked edible. It is not unusual in Chinese families for the young girls to be the first to take on household duties, helping parents in whatever way they can, while young boys have an easier life, because it is they who will carry on the family name. The "One Child Policy" is not so strictly enforced in remoter regions and in Minority Groups.
 When we returned to our mini-bus we found four young boys sitting on a log in the lay-by but it was difficult to even guess at their ages, as their faces seemed much older than their physiques. Perhaps there had been some lack of nourishment in their earlier years. I am sure that I would have been able to carry the four of them in my arms without too much difficulty.
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