Matriarchal Naxi and Bai Women in Yunnan

While we were traveling in the Yunnan province we encountered several tribal minorities, but  two minority tribes the Naxi women and the Bai women drew me to them. The Naxi women are matriarchal, they keep custody of the children and the men do not live with their family. The women are in control of the money and raise their children. When the children turn 13 the women tell them who their father is. I find this fascinating, so much of the Western culture thinks that it is necessary to have a mother and father to raise children right.  We have witnessed that this does not always work, with the divorce rate being 50 % of all marriages ending in divorce. This tribe has been in existance for thousands of years and it seems to work for them. There are only 300,000 thousand left and the customs and their way of writing (using pictographs) is quickly diminishing.  The Bai are known for their architectural skills and the style of their homes. They also have some of the most colorful costumes and head wear in China. The more and more I travel I am aware that the women are the ones that carry society. I asked my guide, why is it that the woman does all the work and the man just sits and observes.  All the guides say the same thing, the men are lazy and like to drink. They take their birds to the park, drink and do little if nothing. She also told me that women have wised up and now control the money in the family. Also women now are waiting to get married and have children.  I think women in the west are now waiting to get married and have children for similar reasons. Not that men in the U.S. are lazy, but women are finding out that life does not have to be Ozzie and Harriet. Who are we as a society to say that a husband and wife are the "only" way to raise children. I hope my daughter realizes that she must be independent and love herself first and fulfill herself before committing to anyone else. My mom is in town, and we walked around Central yesterday and then went to dinner. Hong Kong is humid! One of the locals said it feels like a monsoon is coming, the stickiness and the humidity is ridiculous. No photos today I posted too many the other day. I have ten days before I am home! Yes! Today I am going to find a place to print some photos and send to this lady in the mountains that wanted her granddaughter to have something to remember her by. Ken painted her, as you saw in one of the photos yesterday and I promised to send her photos. The catch is, that I cannot write Chinese and she does not have an address, so I have have Ken's secretary write the address and I will mail to my guide that will go on tour again at some point to the mountains and take the photos to my beautiful old lady. Ok one photo same one because I love this viejita. :-)