The Mosuo Folk Museum (摩梭民俗博物馆) stands as a unique and historically significant institution co-founded by local villagers Weng Jici’erqing and his friend Ru Heng Cirenduoji. It serves not only as China’s sole museum dedicated to showcasing the customs of a matrilineal society but also as a crucial gateway for outsiders to understand Mosuo culture and its developmental history.
Established with the aim of showcasing authentic Mosuo culture and its evolution, the museum has played a vital role in preserving and promoting Mosuo traditional culture. Since 1998, Erqing and Cirenduoji have been collecting items used by the Mosuo people in their daily lives, as well as photographing everyday scenes, accumulating a wealth of physical objects and photographic materials for the museum’s founding.
The exhibits in the Mosuo Folk Museum are diverse and rich, spanning various areas such as flower houses, grandmother’s rooms, Daba halls, costume galleries, Lama sutra halls, folk customs exhibition halls, photo exhibition halls, and Tea Horse Ancient Road halls. These areas vividly recreate the daily life scenes of the Mosuo people, allowing visitors to gain a comprehensive understanding of Mosuo history, culture, and customs. Additionally, the museum features dining halls, halls dedicated to Mosuo celebrities, film exhibition halls, and live demonstrations of labor workshops, providing visitors with a more comprehensive and in-depth experience of Mosuo culture.
Within the Mosuo Folk Museum, visitors can observe up close the production and daily life utensils of the Mosuo people, religious customs, housing structures, and traditional culture. Notably, the Mosuo custom of walking marriage, a hallmark of matrilineal society, is extensively introduced and showcased in the museum. Furthermore, the museum displays the historical culture of the Mosuo people’s ancestral home in Yanyuan, Mosuo matrilineal civilization, Mosuo religious beliefs, and the Mosuo chieftain system, painting a unique picture of Mosuo folk culture for visitors.
Basic Information
| Estimated Length of Tour | 1 – 2 hours |
| Ticket Price | 30 RMB |
| Opening Hours | 9.00 – 17.30; Last admission: 17.00 |
Location and Transportation
The Mosuo Folk Custom Museum is located in Luoshui Village, Ninglang Yi Autonomous County, Lijiang, Yunnan Province. From Lijiang Ancient Town, there are tourist shuttle buses departing from Yuhu Square Parking Lot (玉河广场停车场) every morning bound for Lugu Lake. These buses will take you to Luoshui Village. The round-trip fare is approximately 160 yuan per person, with a one-way fare of 100 yuan per person. Buses depart at 8:00 in the morning, and the journey takes about 6 hours.
