What is "kucong"

The Kucong ( Chinese:苦聪人) is an ethnic group in China.

It is one of the poorest minorities in China. The people are considered as invisible people as they seldom let traders see them when they sell their wares to buy some necessities. Their houses are small and narrow and a house consists of a single room without divisions and without windows. The fire is in the center, where the family members sleep with their livestock. Today, they still keep a semi-nomadic existence, living mainly from hunting and gathering; and government subsidies. The Kucong are not recognized by the Chinese government as an official minority nationality, but they are officially being considered.

More than 3,000 Kucong inhabit at least 16 villages of northern Laos. A subgroup of the Kucong in Laos are called Lahu Aga ('Bent Gourd Lahu') by other people because traditionally they wore a curved gourd around their necks. The Kucong are one of the more primitive groups in Laos and they have little contact with other ethnic groups.