The population of Dai nationality is about one million persons, most of them live in Yunnan province. They have their own language, at the same time , most of them can talk in Han .
Dai nationality is one of the most ancient nationalities . Dai has its own language and writing system. It inhabits mainly in YunNan province , countries and areas in north-east Asia. XiShuangBanNa---JingHong is one of the famous cities Dai inhabits. JingHong is named " City of peacock". Dai looks peacock and elephant as lucky animals . The most famous dance for Dai is " Peacock Dance" ( every movement of the dancer imitates peacock. It is also one of my favorite national dances. The other one is dance of Uygur.
Dai people love water, admire water, enjoy living near water , so Dai is also called " Nationality of Water". Dai people believe water can bring them happiness and luck. So there is a famous festival for Dai ---"Festival of pouring water" , it is between the 6th month and the 7th month of the Dai calendar( around April 15th.). It is also New year for Dai. One of their activities for celebrating is pour water to others, they think the more water you get ( the more you get wet) , the more happy and lucky things you will get in the coming year. I have join them in this activity for three times, it is really fun! But remember to take good care of your camera first!กก
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The houses of Dai is made of bamboo, they always have two floors, the ground floor is for raising domestic animals , the second floor is for Dai people themselves.
Dai females will never cut their hairs , so all Dai females have very long hairs. They take their hairs as treasures.
Dai believes in Hinayana doctrine of Buddhism.Males of Dai have to be Buddhists when they are 7-8 years old, otherwise they will be looked down by others. Moreover, they can't get marry or have their own family if they haven't been Buddhists. The Dai boys learn how to read and write when they are Buddhists in temples, just as we go to school to learn knowledge. So there are hundreds of Pagodas and Temples all over the area they live.
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