...the Chinese government against hill tribe peoples. After the people's revolution and the foundation of the Lao PDR in 1975 many Mien left the country for Thailand.
The Mien do not produce their own silk or cotton, but they are masters in the art of dyeing, embroidering and sewing their distinctive costumes. The men are skilled black- and silversmiths. They cultivate dry as well as wet rice, supplementing their diet with different kinds of secondary crops. The Yao in general are famous for cultivating opium poppies, but have been forced to give it up by the Lao government's opium eradication program. |
