Lugu Lake

There are only a few Matriarchal societies left in the world. The only one in Asia are the Mosuo people that live around Lugu Lake in Yunnan province of China. I visited them for the third time this past fall and find that life has much improved for them since my last visit and new modern hotels are now available. They live around a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains at 10,000 feet above sea level. The women live together in a compound. If there is a committed relationship, the man often comes at night and stays but returns to his own home during the day. There is no recognition of "father" in their language, only "uncle". There is no divorce since there are no marriages. Each evening there is a performance of their music and dance at a large hall mostly for the few tourists that come. During the day you can take a dug out canoe with one of the women and men out to an island where there is a Monastery and monks living. If you wish you can even rent a dug out canoe on your own and go to the other side of the lake and villages. For more information on getting to Lugu lake which is about 7 hours by car from LiJiang, contact me at interlak@eskimo.com