Lugu Lake is located in the North West Yunnan plateau in the centre of Ningliang Yi Autonomous County. The middle of the lake forms the border between the Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanqing County of Sichuan province. It is an alpine lake at an elevation of 2,685 metres and is the highest lake in the Yunnan Province. The lake is surrounded by mountains and has five islands, four peninsulas, fourteen bays and seventeen beaches. The lake's shores are inhabited by many minority ethnic groups, such as the Mosuo, Norzu, Yi, Pumi and Tibetan. The most numerous of them all are the Mosuo people. Lugu Lake is called the "mother lake" by the Mosuo people. The lake is also well-known in Chinese travel pamphlets as the region of “Amazons,” “The Kingdom of Women 女儿国” and “Home of the Matriarchal Tribe”, this last name highlighting the dominant role of the Mosuo women in their society. The marriage rites of the Mosuo people are known as “azhu marriage” ceremony and this unique aspect of their social culture has given the title “exotic land of daughters” to the area. It is also known as "A Quaint Realm of Matriarchy." The matriarchal and matrilineal society of the Mosuos is also termed the “Women’s World.” [Source: Wikipedia]
