The Tibetan ethnic minority is mainly distributed in Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan provinces and their nearby provinces. The Tibetan ethnic minority is one of the age-old ethnic minorities in China and its chief agricultural crop is highland barley, but there are also other crops such as wheat, rape and pea, etc.

　　The Tibetan style of clothing and adornment can be roughly classified into four major types in terms of the four regions: East Tibet, South Tibet, Middle Tibet and North Tibet. Again, the four types can fall into two major types: that for the farming area and that for the pasturing area. All those types vary with different sexes, social statuses and identities. This is the common characteristic of Tibetan costumes of all regions. As Tibetans live in a vast area and there are many mountains and rivers separating them from each other, even in the same minority, there are quite different styles of clothing and ornament. Long sleeved, broad robes worn loosely with a diagonal slant, and women's aprons welted with colorful stripes, might be the general idea people have about Tibetan dress. There are, however, marked variances in the clothing of different localities, influenced by the different strands of their religion. Tibet's environment has allowed Tibetan clothing to evolve into a variety of distinctive and characteristic styles.

　　In Northern Tibet - Mountain Pastures

　　The weather in northern Tibet, where herdsmen lead a nomadic life in natural mountain pastures, is bitterly cold. As there is a huge disparity between day and night time temperatures, local herdsmen wear a furred robe all year round, which doubles as a quilt at night. In daytime, people wear their left sleeve only, or sometimes wear neither, and tying the two sleeves at the waist. Today, the fashion of wearing only the left sleeve, while exposing the right shoulder, is immediately recognizable as Tibetan dress style.

　　The Tibetan furred robe is very bulky and said to have enough room to accommodate a five or six-year old child in winter. It has no pockets, but being fastened at the waist there is plenty of room around the ribcage to carry daily necessities.

　　Clothes worn by herdsmen in pasture areas are distinctive for their decorative welts. They are also hemmed in black velveteen, corduroy, or woolen cloth at the front and lower edges, and cuffs, and the women wear aprons decorated with colorful cloth stripes. The vista of herdsmen, roaming about under the blue sky, white clouds, green grass, snowy mountains, among their sheep and cattle, is a sight more beautiful than any landscape painting.

　　Today the people in northern Tibet have a much better way of life. They dress well and the men like to wear loose jackets with long sleeves, while women wear body hugging colorful clothes. The men also wear cloth or felt hats, sometimes with tassels, and in some areas they add purplish silk decorations. Women seldom wear hats in summer, but during the rainy season they wear a white felt or white woolen rain coat with a hat. In winter, both men and women wear fox or sheepskin hats, and scarves of the same materials are also popular. On special occasions the women wear a red tassel on a hat composed of iron rings, or a longevity hat. Herders in northern Tibet pay great attention to their clothes and they are generally made from high-grade woolen fabrics and lined with sheepskin. Clothes for men have black borders, while those for women have colored borders. Today people love to wear clothes trimmed with otter hide, which sells for up to 10,000 yuan apiece. In livestock breeding areas, women wear colored aprons in Tibetan, which are longer than those found in the farming areas. Herders make their own boots, which are brightly colored and unique in workmanship. The annual horse race gives the herders and farmers an opportunity to display their handiwork-hats, robes and boots. In addition to clothing unique to Tibet, the herders and farmers also wear Han Chinese clothes or Western suites. Han Chinese clothes, shirts and sweaters, all sold at low prices, are very popular, but Tibetan clothing is still in vogue.  

　　The people of northern Tibet also like to decorate their clothing with various objects. Men decorate their horses and carry knives and rifles remade from traditional firearms. They have pigtails decorated with Lhayu jade, which is believed to represent the soul, and red or black hair tassels composed of coral and agate. The wealthier men like to have agate, coral and other forms of decoration, and wear a gold or silver earring in the left ear. Rings, some of them saddle-shaped, are worn on the middle and fourth fingers, an ivory, agate or jadeite ring is worn on the thumb, and a bracelet on the left wrist. Men also carry a bag containing a flint, needles, an awl and a small knife; the men in northern Tibet are skilled at needlework. Wealthier men also carry a whip with a white rattan handle, and a gilded silver box containing auspicious objects. Some also carry a horn snuff bottle inlaid with silver and gems. Those who smoke carry pipes with silver or bronze bowls and an agate or jadeite mouthpiece, in addition to a tobacco pouch inlaid with silver, bronze or gems.

　　Women's attire is relatively complex. During holidays they put on their best clothes and wash their hair which is then combed into two sections. The top section is covered with a black cloth, from beneath which protruded five pigtails. Married women wear slices of white conch shell adorned with coral, silver and other forms of decoration in their hair to show love and respect for their husband. The ends of their pigtails are decorated with tiny bells, sliced conch shells, coral, jade and silver coins. The women's earrings are usually made of silver and adorned with various kinds of gems, and their necklaces are made from high quality cat's eye, red coral, pearls and jade. Bracelets are made of amber and silver. Rings inlaid with gems are worn on the middle and ring fingers. Belts are made of silver, gilded, or inlaid with various types of gems, and usually consist of nine, six or five segments. Women generally also have a needle bag hanging to their left and a tiny knife to the right. A woman may also carry a silver chain bearing tiny bells or tiny conch shells. Many also carry milk keg hooks, small bags of salt to feed the cattle and sheep, and Erdo herding whips.

　　In Southern Tibet - Farmers

　　Tibetan farmers, who live in the warm and damp climate of southern Tibet, make their clothes from tweed, a kind of hand-woven woolen cloth. Both men and women wear their clothes buttoned to the right. Men's clothes are hemmed in colorful cloth or with silk at the collar, cuffs, front, and lower edges. Other than during the cold winter, women's outerwear is sleeveless. The length of a Tibetan robe generally exceeds the wearer's height, and when worn, the waist is lifted and fastened with a belt.

　　In Lhasa and Shannan

　　The weather in Lhasa and Shannan Prefecture is warmer and damper still. Here the men mainly wear double-layered robes, and women dress in close-fitting robes and long-sleeved shirts, with brightly decorated aprons at the waist.

　　The apron is one of the favorite items of clothing for Tibetan women. According to Tibetan custom, they are the privileged garments for married women only; single girls do not generally wear them. Gonggar County in the Jiedexiu area of Shannan Prefecture is synonymous with aprons, having produced them for 500 or 600 years.

　　In Local Festivals

　　Festival is the best opportunity to observe and enjoy Tibetan clothes. Nagqu Town in northern Tibet holds a horse race every year, and Tibetans gather at this fair dressed in their best. Riders usually wear robes of azure, dark blue or pale green, with red knickerbockers, or blue or black sports trousers, and boots. Male spectators wear long furred robes in black, blue, or yellow, hung with finely decorated Tibetan knives, flints, snuff bottles, and silver coins at the waist. Women wear hats hemmed in colors that match the hemming on all their other garments, right down to the boots. They wear gold, silver, and copper adornments on their long braids, large earrings and necklaces, and strings of metal coins decorating their waists that jingle musically in the breeze.