Why tradition of ‘walking marriages’ may be running out of time in China’s remote southwest
Zhaba group’s matrilineal customs risk being swept away in face of economic development and pressure to adopt monogamous relationships
Nimble after years of practice, Trinley Norbu is used to hoisting himself three stories up the side of a stone house and through the window for a nocturnal tryst.
Climbing skills have long been the key to successful courtship for men in the small matrilineal Zhaba ethnic group in China’s southwestern Sichuan province.
The Zhaba eschew monogamous relationships for traditional “walking marriages” – so-called since men typically walk to their rendezvous before slipping through their lover’s window.
Traditionally, men and women do not live together no matter how long-term their relationship is and women are free to take as many lovers as they like.
But Trinley Norbu, a 37-year-old truck driver, and others in the remote area on the edge of the Tibetan plateau lament that the tradition is waning, as women increasingly want a bit more commitment from a man.
The arrival of the internet, smartphones, livestreaming and popular Korean television shows, along with improved transport and education opportunities beyond the valley, have exposed the once isolated Zhaba to other lifestyles.