With 3,000 years of history behind them and only 300,000 of them left in the world, China's Qiang ethnic group is a nationality with an interesting yet little-known culture.

Qiang woman tidies up quilts dug out from the ruins of her village, destroyed by the earthquake

That culture came into the light recently with the opening of a new exhibition at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities of Beijing called Qiang Culture in the Earthquake-hit Areas of Sichuan Province.

It has attracted particularly large crowds because Beichuan, the only Qiang autonomous county in China, was shaken severely by the earthquake in Sichuan on May 12.

The exhibition, which opened on June 14, presents more than 100 items related with the Qiang culture, including utensils, clothes and musical instruments. The items were collected from other counties that are also inhabited by the Qiang people but were less affected by the earthquake. There are also around 300 photographs taken by journalists showing the customs, constructions, and living habits of the Qiang people.

An exhibition of Qiang culture held in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities shows the beautiful clothes of the Qiang people