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Sala legend traces their origins
WITH a population of 130,607, the Sala people are one of the country’s smallest ethnic groups. They are mostly found around the Yellow River and Xunhua Sala Autonomous County and Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Qinghai Province, as well as Jishishan County in Gansu Province. There are some small pockets scattered in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Surrounded by mountains, Sala people have inhabited Xunhua for more than 1,000 years in part because it has a warm climate and abundant water resources, providing fertile soil for crops.
Little is known about the early history of Sala people although there are legends that have been passed down through generations.
One story has it that more than 700 years ago, the ancestors of the Sala people left Samarkhan in Central Asia with water, soil from their hometown and a handwritten Koran on a white dromedary. After a long and arduous journey they arrived in Xunhua of Qinghai Province.
When dawn came, people found the camel had died and turned into a white stone in a spring of water. They went for a closer look and found the earth and water exactly the same as in their hometown.
The Sala people settled and mixed with Hui, Han and Tibetans in the region. The ethnic group took shape by the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Many scholars believe Sala people are descendants from the Oghuz tribe in Turkey.
Sala people mostly believe in Islam and have their own language but no written script. The Sala language belongs to the Turkish group of the Atlantic languages family. Yet there are also words derived from other languages due to their long-time communication with the Han, Hui and Tibetan peoples. Most young Sala people today can speak Mandarin, while some also speak Tibetan or Uygur. Chinese is widely used for writing.
The Sala people wear similar clothing as nomads from Central Asia. Men traditionally wear caps with a curved woolen brim, loose coat, long shirt, trousers and boots. They tend to tie a cloth belt around their waist. Fur-lined jackets are an essential in winter.
Men prefer black and white but women tend to choose more colorful shirts and sleeveless jackets. They also always wear a head cover with the color depending on their age.
Young girls and bridegrooms wear green while the middle-aged use indigo and older women prefer white. They also like earrings, strings of pearls, rings and bracelets.
Wheat, highland barley, buckwheat and potatoes are their staple foods.
When festivals come and relatives or friends visit, they fry dough sticks, make steamed buns, roast mutton and vegetables.
They follow Halal practices in that a prayer is said before an animal is butchered and the blood is drained from it. Drinking and smoking are forbidden.
The Salas like both milk tea and wheat tea, which they call youji.
Wheat tea is easy to make. Start by baking wheat until it turns brown and then grind into granules and boil in water. Then add salt, Chinese prickly ash, fennel and almond.
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