Some 40,000 ethnic Mosuo live in the Lugu Lake area in Sichuan Province. Since Mosuo people are governed through a matriarchic system, people also call the Lugu Lake women’s land. [File Photo: chinanews.cn]

Some 40,000 ethnic Mosuo live in the Lugu Lake area in Sichuan Province. Since Mosuo people are governed through a matriarchic system, people also call the Lugu Lake women’s land. 　

Men live a very idle life there. They don’t do any farm or household work but play cards and Mahjong all day long. Women are the main work force in the house and they also do most of the farm work. 　

Mosuo people do not formally marry. Rather, they carry a special “walking marriage" custom. A man and a woman can get to know each other by singing love songs or contacting each other in their daily life activities. If they fall in love, the woman might give the man a scarf woven by her as a gift. When night falls, the man will visit his lover’s house with a piece of fat meat. When he arrives in front of the woman’s house, he will throw the meat to the dog to eat so that it won’t warning people of his arrival. Then he will go into the woman’s house through the window. Before dawn, the man will leave the woman’s house. If the two still want to keep in touch, the man can come again. When they have a baby, the woman will take care of the baby. If the woman does not like the man any more, she won’t open the door when the man comes next time, and the two will find their new lovers again. The man does not take any family responsibilities. The woman will raise the child and control the family properties. 　　

If the woman has found a new boyfriend and her old boyfriend happens to knock at her door, the woman will tell him to come next time. The man will not feel upset by the woman’s refusal. To Mosuo people, men and women have the freedom to choose their lover and their relations are not subject to power or money.