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Nan's dominant ethnic minority Speaking of ethnic groups, famous places where tourists can see them are in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. However, in a quiet province like Nan you can also visit various hill tribe communities. The Mien are one of the most dominant tribes in Nan and then there are other lesser known tribes such as the Htin and Khamu. It is believed the Mien came from China's Guangxi, Yunnan, Hunan and Guangdong provinces. Ancestors of the Mien in Thailand migrated here through Vietnam and Laos around 100 years ago in search of greener pastures. Also known as the Yao, these people prefer to call themselves Mien, which means human. The word Yao means "barbarians". The Mien use Chinese characters and when they speak it sounds like Cantonese. They live in nine provinces of the North, such as Phayao, Chiang Mai, Lampang and Tak. In Nan, a centre aimed at promoting Mien handicraft was open last year at Ban Klang Phattana in Muang district. Its second objective is to offer visiting tourists a peek at the traditional way of their life, art and craft. It also trains teenagers in the community to volunteer as guides on weekends. Meuy, a 12-year-old and daughter of the village headman, revealed that Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the opening. "I and my friends had a wonderful opportunity to pose for pictures with the Princess," she said proudly. The pictures are on display at the centre, which also showcases a collection of Mien art, their history, culture and items of daily use. The Mien dress mostly in black. The women are covered from neck to ankle and wear black headband. Their black long-sleeved blouse is decorated with bright red ruff around the neckline and front cuffs. Their black trousers are heavily embroidered. They bear Mien style cross stitches created with red, yellow, blue, green and white threads. Each family has its own design and daughters are taught how to sew when still young, said our guide. Girls and young women decorate their dresses with silver. They wear long, large necklaces, a flat silver disc around the neck and filigrees of silver on the back, from which hang little bells which jingle as they they walk. Compared to women, men wear plain clothes. They wear loose black Chinese-style shirt and also loose fitting trousers. They decorate the edges with red strips of cloth, while the pockets have colourful cross stitches. The centre has also recreated a typical Mien house which don't make use of nail or metal - it's all-wood. "The ground serves as house floor. Houses are wooden, single storeyed and have high roof," said our guide. She then proceeded to show it to us. Entering the gate, we found ourselves right in the living room. It had no windows but the ceiling was high which explained why it wasn't stuffy inside even though the weather was hot. Bamboo partitions separated the rooms. If a family had a daughter, her room would be next to her parent's, the kitchen was always behind the living room opposite the bedrooms, while utensils included a clay pot, cups and saucers made from bamboo. The Mien live in an extended family set-up. After marriage the groom continues to live at his parent's house with his wife. The father is head of the family, while women do all the house work and raise children. By nature, the Mien are a friendly people and excellent traders too. In one corner of the centre there is a booth selling hand-made items, clothes, silver bracelets, necklaces and brooches that make for ideal souvenirs. Mein handicrafts are also sold in most shops downtown. The centre has two guest houses for those wishing to spend the night there. It also plans to offer homestay for visiting tourists in due course. |