The Qiang minority, has a total population of 300 thousand, mainly distributed in Maoxian, Wenchuan, Lixian, Beichuan and Heishui Counties of Aba Autonomous Prefecture, in Sichuan Province. They are part of the Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman ethno linguistic group; their language consists of a northern and southern dialect. The Qiangs have no writing system; they use the Han characters for their written language.

The Qiang’s long tradition has endowed this minority with a rich cultural heritage. They are talented artists, musicians, singers and dancers. The Qiang people have a strong aesthetic sense, as can be seen from their everyday dress and ornamentation. Most of the Qiangs still wear traditional clothing today. They are excelling at the bamboo flute, and multi-part songs. They perform dances with distinctive style, bold and unrestrained movements and exciting rhythm that expresses their brave heroic personality.

 The Qiang people believe in primordial religion, and some of them believe in Tibetan Buddhism, too. The ancient and original religion plays an important role in the traditional culture of Qiang.