The place in China where the women lead

Society & Culture

The matrilineal Mosuo society in Yunnan Province has drawn an increasing number of tourists over the years, and while the tourism boom has helped alleviate the poverty and isolation of the ethnic minority group, it is also eroding traditional family structures.

Sky Canaves
Credit: Tourists take photos by the water in Lugu Lake in southwest China. The area is home to the Mosuo ethnic group, which has one of the world's relatively rare matrilineal societies.

Sky Canaves previously reported for The Wall Street Journal in Beijing and Hong Kong, where she covered media, culture, social issues, and legal affairs, and served as the founding editor and lead writer of the WSJ’s China Real Time site. Prior to becoming a journalist, Sky worked in the China corporate law practice of Baker & McKenzie, and she has also taught journalism and media law at the University of Hong Kong. She speaks Mandarin and has accumulated more than a decade’s experience living, studying and working in China. Read more

Twitter
Facebook

Suggested for you

The China Agenda

The China Agenda for October 30–November 5: Xiangshan Forum

Arran Hope
Society & Culture

Once banned, Mandarin learning in Indonesia on the rise amid improving ties with China

Randy Mulyanto

Exiled Uyghurs push UN to press China for account of relatives detained for being Muslim

Ruth Ingram

Elderly Uyghurs die alone in jail, detained on trumped-up charges

Ruth Ingram

Xinjiang exit bans keep Uyghur ‘agitators’ in place, divide families

Ruth Ingram

Beijing seeks to block the UN rights report on Xinjiang

The editors