Join a minority, says government

By Li Xinran  |   2008-12-23  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

RESIDENTS in a small county in northwest China's Shaanxi Province are being encouraged to change their registered ethnicity as Qiang ethnic because the local government wants to turn the county into an ethnic minority autonomous area.

Under the State policy, preferential treatment will be provided to all the ethnic minority autonomous areas in social and economic development.

Locals who had grandparents who lived in Fengxian County or have the Qiang blood (evidence is necessary) are eligible to register as Qiang, the local government said, according to Oriental Outlook magazine.

The Qiang ethnic minority has a population of just 306,072 who mostly live in mountainous Sichuan Province currently.

The Sichuan Qiang ethnic group in Beichuan County suffered a huge loss in the May 12 earthquake, which left more than 69,000 dead. The earthquake has leveled the county to ground.

Thousands of Fengxian residents have handed in applications - ethnic minority groups enjoy a lot of preferential policies and sponsorships ranging from education to employment.

Fengxian was reportedly the hometown of the ancient Qiang, according to Zhang Shanyun, the chairman of the Qiang Association in Sichuan.

But the county of 120,000 people now has only about 300 Qiang people.

The law says any Qiang autonomous county should have at least 30 percent of its local residents belonging to the minority group.

Fengxian planned to set up a Qiang autonomous town first as it didn't have as many Qiang people. It also invited Qiang people from earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan to live there to increase its Qiang population.

Fengxian used to be famous for lead-zinc mining and 80 percent of its annual income was from mining.

Local government began to develop tourism from 2006 when the county faced the exhaustion of its mining resources and the dive of international prices.

With investment of 650 million yuan (US$95 million) over two years, Fengxian now has dozens of tourist attractions and lured more than 250,000 tourists in 2007.

Yuan Yongbing, vice chairman of the Qiang association in Fengxian, suggested county leaders rescue and develop the local Qiang culture as it was once a home for Qiang people. The Fengxian government has encouraged local residents to follow Qiang customs.