Drung

族About this people

The Drung — also romanised as Dulong — are one of China's smallest recognised ethnic groups, with a population of approximately 7,000 people concentrated almost entirely in the Dulong River valley (Dulongjiang), a remote Tibeto-Burman-speaking area of Gongshan County in northwestern Yunnan. The valley is enclosed by the Gaoligong and Dandanglika mountain ranges and was accessible only by high mountain passes, which were blocked by snow for approximately five months each year until a tunnel was completed in 2014.

This physical isolation preserved a way of life closely tied to the river valley's forest resources. Traditional Drung subsistence combined slash-and-burn cultivation of buckwheat, millet, and corn with hunting, fishing in the Dulong River, and gathering of wild plants, including a wealth of medicinal herbs. Houses were built on wooden stilts, and the Drung woven blanket (dulong rug) — a coarse woollen textile in geometric brown and white stripes — served as both garment and bed covering and remains a cultural symbol.

One of the most distinctive features of Drung culture was the practice of facial tattooing among women. Older Drung women in the valley have facial tattoos applied in their early teens with a bamboo needle and plant pigment, covering the chin, cheeks, and sometimes the forehead in patterns of dots and lines. This practice largely ended by the 1950s and now survives only among elderly women. The road connection and the 2014 tunnel have brought significant changes to Drung communities.