Even today, the Nakhi people in Lijiang are still a matrilineal society where the women are the head of their household. During the wedding ceremony, it is traditional for the bride to demonstrate she is capable of providing her husband by carrying him around in a circle several times. The women are responsible for the household chores, and also, to sustain the family economy through farming or running a business.

The streets are lined with small businesses operated by Nakhi women. Even the butchers are women! A skilled female butcher can dispatch an entire pig in under twenty minutes. The clothing of Nakhi has seven stars sewn onto the shoulders to represent the long hours they spend working. Not being burned with household chores, the men of Lijiang are free indulge their entire lives in the seven important endeavors of music, books, art, tobacco, alcohol and tea.