ABSTRACT
High among the mountains of central Gansu resides one of China's most remote minority nationalities, their origins shrouded in mystery. To the Chinese they are the 'the Dongxiang', literally 'people of the East village'. Although the Dongxiang's small numbers and lack of aspiration towards political independence make them an unlikely candidate as a political threat to the Chinese State, their insularity has frustrated government attempts to fully integrate them into mainstream Chinese society. The residents of Dongxiang County face a number of obstacles, both internal and external, that have impeded government attempts to integrate them into broader Chinese society. These include cultural insularity, religious identity, over-reliance on agriculture, poor education, low Chinese language and literacy skills and limited roles for women in public life. Under the rule of President Xi Jinping, inter-ethnic engagement has assumed a more prominent role in the campaign to forge a shared national Chinese identity.
