The population is over 101 thousand. The Maonan people mainly reside in the mountain areas in the upper, middle and lower south of Huanjiang County in the northwest of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as well as in places like Hechi, Nandan, Yishan and Duan. The Maonan use the Maonan language, which belongs to the Dong-Shui branch of Zhuang-Dong languages of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Since the Maonan people have long interacted with the Han and Zhuang people, most Maonan people can speak Chinese and the Zhuang language. They do not have their own script and they mainly use Chinese characters. The Maonan people have been engaged in agricultural production since long time ago and they also run various kinds of side business. The local area is rich in sweet potatoes, beef cattle and bamboo hats which are called the “three treasures”. The Maonan ethnic group has over 500 years of history of raising beef cattle f and it is known as “the hometown of beef cattle”. Moreover, the Maonan people are also skilful at making crafts such as bamboo weaving, stone carving and wood carving. The Maonan believe in Taoism. Their special festival is the “Dragon Festival”, also known as the “May Temple Festival”, which begins two days before the “Dragon Day” in lunar calendar. The Maonan people celebrate the “Dragon Festival” by worshipping gods and ancestors. All villagers, women married to families outside and other relatives and friends from afar come to participate in the great and lively celebration.