Chinese children dressed in traditional costumes learn to paint during a class about the culture of Naxi ethnic group at a primary school in Lijiang city, southwest China's Yunnan province, September 4, 2009. Naxi is an ethnic group inhabiting in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. The Naxi people developed a culture closely tied to religion, known as Dongba, and passed down a system of hieroglyphics by word-of-mouth.The local government made it a priority to protect the culture by collecting manuscripts and translating them. Since 1999, a course about the culture of Naxi ethnic group has been offered to students. [Xinhua]
