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The Zhuang ethnic minority is China’s largest minority group. Most of the Zhuang live in southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， which is nearly the size of New Zealand. The rest can be found in Yunnan， Guangdong， Guizhou and Hunan provinces.
Although children learn Mandarin in school， the Zhuang have their own language， which belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Speaking their own language， the Zhuang used Chinese characters for writing up until 1957， when the Chinese Government helped them create a writing system based on the Latin alphabet. Now the Zhuang script is used in books， magazines and newspapers and taught in schools.
The contemporary Zhuang dress in the same way as the Han people， but traditional dresses remain popular in many places and are worn for special occasions. In northwest Guangxi， elderly women like collarless， embroidered and trimmed jackets buttoned to the left together with baggy trousers， embroidered belts and shoes and pleated skirts， accompanied by fancy silver ornaments. Women of southwest Guangxi prefer collarless， left-buttoned jackets， square kerchiefs and loose trousers - all in black. Most of them complement their outfits with silver ornaments.
Sharing similar festivals with the Han， such as the Spring Festival and Mid-autumn Festival， the Zhuang people also have their own unique celebrations， among which the Devil Festival is the most important. The Devil Festival falls on July 14 on the lunar calendar， where families will prepare chicken， duck and five-colored glutinous rice to be offered as sacrifices to ancestors and ghosts.
The Zhuang have a great reputation for brocade. Woven in beautiful designs with natural cotton warp and dyed velour weft， the brocade is excellent for making quilt covers， table-clothes， braces， aprons and handbags.
The Zhuang people have also been lauded for their singing. Impromptu melodies and lyrics and clever use of metaphors， riddles and cross-examinations add charm to their songs. The Singing Festival， on March 3 of the lunar calendar， is a traditional and unique festival of the Zhuang for commemoration of Liu Sanjie， a legendary folk singer of the Zhuang ethnic group in the Tang Dynasty （618–907）. She was well-known， not only because of her beautiful singing， but also her courage in confronting local tyrants. A 1960s film depicting her stories made Liu Sanjie the most famous Zhuang character across China.
Although children learn Mandarin in school， the Zhuang have their own language， which belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Speaking their own language， the Zhuang used Chinese characters for writing up until 1957， when the Chinese Government helped them create a writing system based on the Latin alphabet. Now the Zhuang script is used in books， magazines and newspapers and taught in schools.
The contemporary Zhuang dress in the same way as the Han people， but traditional dresses remain popular in many places and are worn for special occasions. In northwest Guangxi， elderly women like collarless， embroidered and trimmed jackets buttoned to the left together with baggy trousers， embroidered belts and shoes and pleated skirts， accompanied by fancy silver ornaments. Women of southwest Guangxi prefer collarless， left-buttoned jackets， square kerchiefs and loose trousers - all in black. Most of them complement their outfits with silver ornaments.
Sharing similar festivals with the Han， such as the Spring Festival and Mid-autumn Festival， the Zhuang people also have their own unique celebrations， among which the Devil Festival is the most important. The Devil Festival falls on July 14 on the lunar calendar， where families will prepare chicken， duck and five-colored glutinous rice to be offered as sacrifices to ancestors and ghosts.
The Zhuang have a great reputation for brocade. Woven in beautiful designs with natural cotton warp and dyed velour weft， the brocade is excellent for making quilt covers， table-clothes， braces， aprons and handbags.
The Zhuang people have also been lauded for their singing. Impromptu melodies and lyrics and clever use of metaphors， riddles and cross-examinations add charm to their songs. The Singing Festival， on March 3 of the lunar calendar， is a traditional and unique festival of the Zhuang for commemoration of Liu Sanjie， a legendary folk singer of the Zhuang ethnic group in the Tang Dynasty （618–907）. She was well-known， not only because of her beautiful singing， but also her courage in confronting local tyrants. A 1960s film depicting her stories made Liu Sanjie the most famous Zhuang character across China.