The Akha ethnic group originated from Southwest China. The akha are classified by Chinese government as part of the Hani people who are an official minority. Akha live in the mountains of southwest China, eastern Myanmar, western Laos, northwestern Vietnam, and northern Thailand. In all these countries they are an ethnic minority.
Formerly, the Akha practiced a form of swidden agriculture, burning patches of forest and farming rice and vegetables for food on cleared land. When the land could no longer feed them, the Akha would move from one area to another, leaving the land to regenerate. Akha, an indigenous hill tribe, also have complex moral code that give instructions on who the Akha can marry, when and where to plant rice or build a house, and when ceremonies must be performed. The Akha women can be married only after their pregnancy, and after marriage, those women customarily keep their upper body naked.
CHENG Xiao, Beijing based photographer, observed the cultural habits and the original living styles of Akha people living in the high mountains 150 kilometers away from the border between China and Myanmar, unveiling the traditional Akha ethnic culture to the modern world.
Photographer: CHENG Xiao （http://www.chnphoto.cn:8080/zttk/list.html?id=014）
Editor: YANG Qiong
