Bonan knives and knife making

[ausjulius]

Hello fellow forumites.
I am now in Dehajia in Gansu province in China, it is the largest town near the main Bonan villages, here Bonan people are very common.

This is in the north of the Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang (sart) and Sala Autonomous county.
Here most people are Hui, bonan, sala and Dongxiang people.
The population here is mostly muslim.

There is knife shops along the main street selling swords and knives that are locally made. The Bonan ethnic group specialise in knife making and are very skilled at it. They make knives and swords to trade to the other ethnic groups.

There is a number of knife makers in town, several own shops. South west of the city there is also a concentration of knife makers in several villages.

I must say people here are exceptionally hospitable to foreigners and are very generous and keen to communicate, ive yet to encounter anything but friendly helpful people in this region.


I will post pictures shortly, my uploading is not working well here, great firewall and all