The Miao people are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, etc. provinces (autonomous region).

        The Miaoling Mountains and the Wuling Mountains, where the Miao people live in compact communities are surrounded with rivers, interspersed with many large or small field flatlands. And the climate is temperate there. They produce rice, corn, wheat, cotton, flue-cured tobacco, rapeseed, Tung oil tree, etc.. In addition these areas are rich in wood and mineral resources.

        The ancestry of the Miao people can trace back to the tribe of the mythological warriors engaged in fighting with the Yellow Emperor in the central plains region in the times of the primitive society. During the period of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th – 11th B. C.), the ancestors of the Miao people began to set up “San Miao Country” along the middle-lower reaches of the Changjiang River, engaged in farming. The Miao people changed their residences from place to place in the history; the roughly routs were from the Huanghe Valley to Xiang (Hunan), to Qian (Guizhou) and to Dian (Yunnan) respectively.

        The Miao people have their own language, belonging to the Miao language of the Miao-Yao branch of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family. Originally they had no their own language in written forms. A Latinized alphabetic system of writing had not been created until the end of 1950s. Currently, most of them understand the Chinese language.

        The Miao people have a long history in music and dance. They are fond of playing the Lusheng dance, with very high skills. The arts and handicrafts of the Miao people are surpassingly beautiful, such as Tiaohua (cross-stitch embroidery), embroidery, brocade, wax printing, ornaments processing, etc., enjoying high reputation internationally. There are many festivals for the Miao people, the most grand are “Miaonian Festival”, “Siyueba Festival”, “Dragon-Boat Festival”, etc..

        In the past the Miao people believed in the sagacity of all things on the earth. They worshipped the nature and offered sacrifices to their ancestors. On the “Jigu Festival”, they carried out most grand activities to offer sacrifice, generally speaking, every seven years for a small celebration and every thirteen years for a grand celebration. The activities for celebrating the “Jigu Festival” are carried out during the Yihai Days (the days of the second of the ten Heavenly Stems and the last of the twelve Earthly Branches) in the lunar 10th month to the 11th month. On the occasion, the Miao people should kill a bull, play the Lusheng Dance and offer sacrifice to their ancestors. At the dinner they ask relatives and friends to gather in the same place in order to promote affections and family harmony.

        For the three meals every day of the Miao people, they generally eat cooked rice for the principal food. The fried glutinous rice cakes are the common fried foods. In case some fresh meat and pickled vegetables are put in for the filler of the cake, they would be all the more delicious.

        The meat mainly comes from the domestic animals or fowl that the Miao people breed themselves. The Miao people in Sichuan, Yunnan, etc. areas are fond of eating dog meat, a saying for it that “A dog for the Miao people is just like the wine for the Yi people”. In addition to the animal oil, the edible oil for the Miao people are
tea-seed oil and rapeseed oil in the main.

        The hot pepper is a most important flavoring for the Miao people. There is a saying in some areas that “Without pepper there would be no dishes”. There are a great variety of vegetables for the Miao people, the commonly seen are beans, melons, green vegetables, turnips, etc.. Most of the Miao people are skilled at processing bean products.

        The Miao people in various places are fond of eating pickled dish, the soured soup is prepared for in every household. The sour soup is the fermented water in which rice has been cooked or the bean curd has been cooked, kept in the earthen jar for 3 – 5 days, then it may be used for cooking meat, fish, or vegetables.

        The method for the food preservation by the Miao people is generally the salted and pickled method. They like to process the pickled vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, meat, etc.. The Miao people almost have earthen jars for the pickled food in every household, which are called “Shuantan” (earthen jars for pickled food).

        The Miao people have a long history in making wine. They have a complete technology from leaven making, fermentation, distillation, blending to storing in a cellar or pit. The Youcha (Oiled Tea) is the common daily drink; Wanhua Tea is a kind of Oiled Tea specially made by the Miao people in the west of Hunan. The soured soup is also a kind of common drinks of the Miao people.

        The typical foods for the Miao people are: Xueguan Soup, Lajiao (Chilli) Bones, Guifeng Soup of the Miao Village, Miancai Cake (the glutinous rice cake with the affine cudweed), Chong (insects) Tea, Wanhua (multi-flower) Tea, Dao Fish, Pickled Soup Fish, etc..

        The cooked glutinous rice is the essential food for the young men and women of the Miao people during the course in love. In Chengbu area of Hunan Province they present each other the glutinous rice cakes painted with mandarin ducks as the keepsake. On the wedding ceremony, the bride and the bridegroom should drink “jiaobeijiu” (Cross-cupped Wine, at the dinner the new couple should drink from each other's cup); the person presiding over the wedding ceremony should ask the bride and the bridegroom to eat the glutinous rice cakes painted with the patterns of dragon, phoenix and baby.

        In case the Miao girls in rich dresses would join together, it should display a beautiful silver world. To be fond of wearing the silver ornaments is the natural instinct of them. The Miao girl rolls up the chignon on the top of her head, wearing a 20cm-hign delicate silver flower crown, with six long or short silver up-warping wings, on which the patterns of two dragons playing with a pearl are made. In some areas, besides some silver pieces inserted on the silver crown, a pair of some one-meter long silver ox horns may also be inserted into the crown, with colored ribbons tied at the tip of the horns, thus bringing out the nobility and beauty to the best of the Miao girl. Along the lower edge of the silver crown, hang many silver colored braces with a row of pretty silver objects. There are several necklaces with different sizes on the neck of the Miao girl, mostly interlinked up with pretty silver pieces (on which flower patterns msde) and pretty silver rings. The Miao girl also wears the silver lock and the silver collar weight in front of the chest; while, the silver cloak with many pretty silver-bell weights hanging, on the back. The earrings and bracelets are all made of silver. Only the two sleeves come into the view of the fire-red embroidery. Nevertheless, there is still a circle of silver adornments on the cull of the sleeve. The splendid dress and adornments of the Miao girls may weigh up to several kilograms, some may be accumulated and handed down from generation to generation. The Miao girls have always enjoyed the good reputation of “Surpassing the beauty of the goddess when they wear bright-colored clothes and silver adornments”. The Miao's silver adornments are made with resplendent and fine workmanship, the wonderful workmanship excelling nature. It fully demonstrates the intelligence and capability of the Miao people.

        The skirt of the Miao girl is called Baizhequn -- the pleated skirt. In fact, there may be 500-odd pleats on only one skirt. The skirt of the Miao girl has many layers, some even up to 30 or 40 layers on one skirt. The skirts, from spinning and weaving, dying and bleaching, sewing and making, to the last procedure of pattern drawing and embroidering, would be all completed independently by the Miao girls themselves. In addition, they also embroider their flower waist-belts, their flower aprons, etc.. All these are extraordinary splendor and so many beautiful things that one simply cannot take them all in.