Kanas Lake Culture

In Kanas Lake and the near villages of Hemu and Baibaha, there lives mysterious Tuvans. They are good at riding and shooting, and skiing. Tuvan villages are usually built on grassland which is near mountains and water. Their houses are wooden cabins in Swiss style with the distinct characteristics of dome and cubic body. Outside the cabins, there are multi-layer fences. Early in the morning when the sun rises with the fog dispersal, and the sun sets in the evening with a patch of fiery sky, those villages are like living oil paintings.

Tuvans preserve their unique language and living habits.Tuvan language is a rare language in China, and it belongs to the Altai language Turkic language. The language is similar to the Kazak language so Tuvans can speak Kazak language as well. The minority of Tuvans believe in Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism, so also relatively intact and old tribal clan concept and religious belief are kept. There are religious rituals that offer sacrifice to the heaven, lake, mountain, fish and fire each day. In aspects of festivals, Tuvans keep their own special ones as well as celebrate festivals of Han nationality like the Spring festival and Spring Lantern Festival.

Tuvans belong to one of the most ancient nomadic peoples in north China. They are “Wulianghai”people who were recorded in Records of Xinjiang Governinging of late Qing Dynasty. They make a living by herding and hunting for generations ,and live in deep forests, following the traditional way of life. There has been different arguments about the origin of Tuvans. Locals believe that their ancestors were part of soldiers who followed Genghis Khan’western expeditionand left there. Some believe that they came from Siberia 500 years ago, and they belong to the same nationality of Tuvans of Tuva Republic in Russia.