Jiaju of Rontrak County, Aba is praised as the "world of Tibetan fairytales" and "China's most beautiful ancient rural town". For thousands of years Gyarong Tibetan people live here, forming a unique culture of living, dress and ceremony. Among these, Gyarong Tibetan costumes may completely undermine the stereotype of Tibetan costumes.

Unlike ordinary Tibetan dress, which is distinguished by the fastening on the right, long sleeves, loose-fitting waist and made with woolen fabric or fur, traditional Gyarong Tibetan women's dress uses pleuche. The garment has three main components; the head garment (hat) and one the body there are two pieces for front and back encircling the waist. It is both simple and distinctive.

The hat from the Gyarong "three piece" Tibetan dress is normally divided into black and white; the elder and younger generations have different colored hats. In general the elders wear white, women under 50 wear black and unmarried women's hats are more brightly colored.

In the past, everything they wore was hand-made by them. However, following the continuous opening-up of the local area for tourism a, more and more women already have little time for making clothes. Nevertheless, the tradition of girls making their own hats according to how they like has still remained.

Gyarong Tibetans are influenced by the neighboring Yi ethnic group and also have some clothing similar to the dress, which are mainly worn when dancing. Girls wear beautiful hats on their heads and Tibetan dress on their bodies with a skirt- such a graceful appearance.

According to the introduction by GuiHua , a village leader following today's increasingly popular Jiaju Tibetan village tourism, more and more local people have benefitted. Since they are often required to greet visitors, their former special festival dress has already become their daily dress. What is more, it has become a unique signature of a holiday among the local people and their customs.

Photo shows local girls wearing brightly colored Gyarong Tibetan dress.

Elderly Tibetan woman is dressed head to toe in Gyarong Tibetan dress, whose colors are calm and simple yet elegant.

Photo shows various Gyarong Tibetan dress.