Dímáluò is wonderfully located for visitors to explore the surrounding area, which offers many opportunities for lesser known trekking experiences. It is also within a culturally unique area. The people that inhabit the valley are a happy mixture of different ethnic minorities but almost all of them are practising Catholics. Attending a local mass, whatever your beliefs, should be an unforgettable experience. The spirit of the local people is something to behold.
The Nù Jiāng valley is the world's largest canyon and according to UNESCO the area supports 25% of the world’s animal species and 50% of China’s. The area was a refuge during the last ice age and has been described by UNESCO as “one of the world's least disturbed temperate ecological areas, an epicenter of Chinese endemic species and a natural gene pool of great richness.”
(Extract taken from China Development Brief):
Dímáluò consists of twelve natural villages and has a population just over 2,300. Though originally mainly a Nu ethnic area, there are also Tibetan, Lisu, and Dulong groups, and Tibetan language and culture is clearly evident throughout the village. French Catholic missionaries came to the valley in the 1850s, using written Tibetan in their teachings, and today 80% of Dímáluò’s population is Catholic. For the past three generations, animal husbandry has been the village’s main source of income.
