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The 'Dong' (; own name: ''Gaeml'', in IPA [], also referred to as ''Kam'') people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, and are famed for their carpentry skills and unique architecture, in particular a form of covered bridge known as the "wind and rain bridge" (Chinese: 风雨桥). Many of the people are also farmers. They are also known for their excellent pearl necklaces. Their cuisine prominently features pickled foods and sticky rice.
They live mostly in Guizhou, Hunan, and Guangxi provinces of China.

Contents

Language

Notable Dong people

References

External links

Language

The Dong language (own name: ''lix Gaeml'') is a Tai-Kadai (or Zhuang-Dong) language.[1] When written, the Dong people sometimes use Chinese characters to represent the sounds of Dong words. A new orthography based on the Latin alphabet was developed in 1958, but it is not used very much, due to a lack of printed material and trained teachers.
The Ethnologue distinguishes two Dong dialects with the codes kmc for the southern dialect and doc for the northern.

Notable Dong people

★ Li Ting (李婷), gold medalist in the 10 meter synchronized platform diving at the 2004 Summer Olympics at Athens, Greece

★ Wu Hongfei (吴虹飞), singer for the Chinese rock band Happy Avenue (幸福大街)

★ Su Yu (粟裕), the first four-star general of the People's Liberation Army

References

★ D. Norman Geary, Ruth B. Geary, Ou Chaoquan, Long Yaohong, Jiang Daren, Wang Jiying (2003). ''The Kam People of China''. Turning Nineteen? (London / New York, RoutledgeCurzon 2003). ISBN 0-7007-1501-0. (The two main authors are affiliated with the linguistic and missionary organisation SIL International / Wycliffe Bible Translators.)

★ Long, Yaohong and Zheng, Guoqiao (1998). ''The Dong Language in Guizhou Province, China''. Dallas: SIL International and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 126. ISBN 1-55671-051-8. (Translated from Chinese by D. Norman Geary. This publication was financed by the ''Cedar Springs Global Mission''.)[2]

★ Ōu Hēngyuán 欧亨元 (2004). ''Cic deenx Gaeml Gax / Dòng-Hàn cídiǎn'' 侗汉词典 (''Dong-Chinese dictionary''. Běijīng 北京, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社). ISBN 7-105-06287-8.

★ The Dong ethnic minority [3]

External links

★ The Dong ethnic minority (government website in English)

★ 中国侗人网 (''China Dong Net''; in Chinese)

★ Zhèng Guóqiáo 郑国乔: Dòngyǔ jiǎngzuò 侗语讲座 (''Lectures on the Dong language''; in Chinese; pages are not correctly displayed in Mozilla)

★ Photo of Dong ''lusheng'' (mouth organ) parade

★ Photos of Dong villages (website in Japanese)

★ Longsheng, Sanjiang and Zhaoxing

★ Cycling in China north of Guilin to Zhaoxing, practical info for cyclist on the road to Longsheng, Sanjiang and Zhaoxing