If you visit Basha village in Guizhou province's Congjiang county, you may be greeted by a group of men carrying long rifles. Fear not, they are harmless

Basha village is a place where a small community of ethnic Miao continues to live largely as it did 4,000 years ago. The village is perched on a hill 7.5 kilometers from Congjiang, Guizhou province. This group is quite different from other Miao groups in clothing and daily life. The men in the village dress like ancient warriors, and wear guns and knives every day. Their hair is mostly shaved except in the middle, where it is twisted and knotted. As villagers in the tribe are the country's only civilians permitted to own firearms, they have been called "the last tribe of gunners in China".

zhuxingxin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/20/2013 page4)