What is "mosuo"

The Mosuo (; also spelled Moso), often called the Na among themselves, are a small ethnic group living in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces in China, close to the border with Tibet. Consisting of a population of approximately 40,000, many of them live in the Yongning region, around Lugu Lake, in Labai, in Muli, and in Yanyuan, located high in the Himalayas .

Although the Mosuo are culturally distinct from the Nakhi (Naxi), the Chinese government places them as members of the Nakhi minority. The Nakhi are about 320,000 people, spread throughout different provinces in China. Their culture has been documented by indigenous scholars Lamu Gatusa, Latami Dashi, Yang Lifen and He Mei. Media accounts of Mosuo culture tend to highlight exotic sexuality—zouhun, which many Chinese interpret as "free love", matriarchy—a land where women rule; and primitivity—a society that has not evolved.