The Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County (simplified Chinese: 宁洱哈尼族彝族自治县; traditional Chinese: 寧洱哈尼族彝族自治縣; pinyin: Níng'ěr Hānízú Yízú Zìzhìxiàn) is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The population of the county has a large proportion of native Hani and Yi people in a predominately Han Chinese population. As of 2003 the county records a population of approximately 190,000 people. Ethnic Bai (population: 5,139) are found in Kesa 克洒, Heping village 和平村, Mengxian township 勐先乡 (Pu'er County Almanac 1993:120). Multiple minorities promote the colorful and long-standing culture of Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County.

The Culture of Hani People

Hani houses are usually two or three stories high, built with bamboo, mud, stone and wood. The traditional clothing of the Hani is made with dark blue fabric. The men dress in short jackets and in long wide pants. They also wear white or black turbans. The women dress depends on which clan they belong to. There is no gender difference in the clothing of children under the age of seven. Hani are known for their vocal polyphonic singing. Eight-part polyphony was recorded in the 1990s. They play traditional musical instruments, end-blown flute labi (俄比) and three-stringed plucked lute lahe. Part of thousand-year old culture is terraced fields.

The Culture of Yi People

The Yi play a number of traditional musical instruments, including large plucked and bowed string instruments, as well as wind instruments called bawu (巴乌) and mabu (马布). The Yi also play the hulu sheng, though unlike other minority groups in Yunnan, the Yi do not play the hulu sheng for courtship or love songs (aiqing). The kouxian, a small four-pronged instrument similar to the Jew's harp, is another commonly found instrument among the Liangshan Yi. Kouxian songs are most often improvised and are supposed to reflect the mood of the player or the surrounding environment. Kouxian songs can also occasionally function in the aiqing form. Yi dance is perhaps the most commonly recognized form of musical performance, as it is often performed during publicly sponsored holidays and/or festival events. Yi people's son's given name is patronymic, based on the last one or two syllable of father's name.