Clothes of Chinese ethnic minorities are flowery and colorful, extremely exquisite, and highly characteristic. They constitute an important part of the rich history and culture of the nationalities.  

Every aspect of their garments, such as raw materials, textile technology, fashion and decoration, retains a distinct character of the nationality and the locality. The Mongolians, Tibetans, Kazakstans, Khalkhases, Yugurs, etc., who are mainly engaged in stockbreeding, make their apparel mostly from animal skin and hair. On the other hand, farming ethnic minorities usually take the locally produced cotton or hemp thread as raw material to spin cloth and silk and make clothes.  

Ethnic minorities' techniques of spinning and weaving, tanning, felting and so on have undergone a long history. There are numerous designs and forms in the clothing of Chinese ethnic minorities. On broad lines, they can be classified into two types: long gowns and short clothes. Those who are in gown usually wear a hat on the head and boots on the feet while those who are in short clothes usually wear a handkerchief and shoes. The forms of the gowns are various too: the high-collar and big-front type worn by the Mongolian, the Man, the Tu and so on; the collarless tilted-front type worn by the Tibetan, the Moinba and so on; the tilted-front type worn by the Uygur and other nationalities; the kanjian-type long gown...As for short clothes, they fall into the following two types: trousers and skirts.