On special occasions,
the women
of the
Zhuang minority
in
southern
China
wear heavy silver headgear and ornaments (fig.),
that all in all can weigh as much as 15 kilos per individual. The practice of
wearing silver is a remnant of the past when Zhuang people were self-supporting
farmers that traded by means of bartering, without the use of money nor banks.
Thus, in order to save they would stash silver, which they could also wear as
ornaments. |