Slideshow: The Many Faces of China

Last Updated on October 29, 2017 by Audrey Scott

The arc of our travel experience is shaped by the people we meet. Even the most beautiful food and landscape need a human context. With that in mind, we offer a selection of faces – each with a story – that we will recall whenever we reflect on our travels in China.

The following slideshow is our take on China's ethnic diversity. While these images represent only a fraction of China's 56 official ethnic groups (there are scores more unofficial ones), we hope they give you a better feel for the various people who call China their home.

If you'd like to know more about the people you see in the slideshow, go to our Many Faces of China photo set and click on the individual photos for a full description.

While we're on the subject of cultural diversity in China, do you remember the celebration of ethnic diversity at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games? You know, the one where all those cute little ethnic minority kids paraded around in their traditional outfits. It seems that the children were not actually members of the ethnic groups they were supposed to represent, but rather Han Chinese children disguised in traditional ethnic outfits.

We assure you that the people featured in our slideshow are for real.

If you are interested in reading about China's ethnic minority areas, check out our Ethnic China Series (see links below).