1197 CHINA (Tibet) - A Lhoba man in traditional clothes

Lhoba is a term which apply to a diverse amalgamation of Tibeto-Burman tribespeople living in and around Pemako, a region in Southeastern Tibet. It is largely promoted by the Chinese government, which officially recognises Lhoba as one of the 56 ethnic groups in China, even though it has, according to official statistics, only 2970 members, and most people designated as Lhoba don't self-identify as a single entity. The two main tribal groups which fall under the designation Lhoba in are the Yidu (Idu Mishmi) and the Bo'gaer (Bokar Adi), who are found in far greater numbers inside Arunachal Pradesh, a state of India (claimed by China). Other groups identified by Chinese authorities as Lhoba include the Na (Bangni). The area which Lhoba live today was known as Lhoyü in medieval texts, but it isn't known whether they inhabited the area at the time of Tibetan conquest, in 7th century.

Many customs, habits and dress of different clan members may vary. The Lhoba men in Luoyu wear knee-length black jackets without sleeves and buttons made out of sheep's wool. They wear helmet-like hats either made from bearskin (from the long-hair black bears) or woven from bamboo stripes or rattan laced with bearskin, and also ornaments that include earrings, necklaces made of beads, and bamboo plugs inserted into the ear lobe. Both sexes usually go barefooted. The Yidu men wear a sword and waterproof cane helmet, and a chignon on their hair and shields made of buffalo hide. Yidu weaponry includes straight Tibetan sword, dagger, bow and poisoned arrows. Very interesting is the Yidu calendar, based upon the menstrual period of the women. Dating is done by untying one each from a number of knots put on a piece of string.

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of a series issued on May 19, 2013 of China Tourism Day, which includes:
• Landscape of Zhangjiajie (0.80 CNY) - It's on the postcard
• Red Beach in Pan Jin (0.80 CNY)
• Zhongwei Shapo Head in Ningxia (1.20 CNY)
• Yuanyang Terraced Fields in Yunnan (1.20 CNY)
• Xinhui Bird Paradise in Guangdong (1.20 CNY)
• Neixiang Baotianman in Henan (3.00 CNY)

The second stamp, depicting Biddulph's Ground Jay - Podoces biddulphi (1.00 CNY), is part of the fourth set of a series depicting birds in China, about which I wrote here. The last stamp, depicting a rosewood embedded marble armchair (Qing Dynasty), is part of the first set of the series Ming and Qing Dynasty Furniture, about which I wrote here.

References
Lhoba people - Wikipedia
Chinese Nationalities (Lhoba Minority) - Paul and Bernice Noll's Window on the World
The Lhoba ethnic minority - China.org.cn

Sender: Hannah Chen (direct swap)
Sent from Xiamen (Fujian / China), on 29.06.2014