Covers, volume 25, Number 6, 2009

Front and back cover caption, volume 25 issue 6 ANTHROPOLOGY IN CHINA In China the history of anthropology is tightly linked to the discovery and documentation of ethnic diversity within the state. The 16th Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences was held in China in summer 2009 in the southwestern state of Yunnan, where this diversity is most pronounced. Participants were encouraged to visit model communities, enjoy music and dance performances by the minorities, and admire their colourful costumes, as in this picture, which shows how VIP guests were welcomed to the closing ceremony of the Congress. Yet just a few weeks earlier, at the other end of the country in Xinjiang, almost 200 people were killed in the worst ethnic rioting since Liberation 60 years ago. While most economic and educational indicators suggest that socialist ethnic policies have been an impressive success, evidently not all is harmonious. Especially among Tibetans and Uyghurs, policies of recognition and the emphasis on a territorial homeland have fostered aspirations which cannot be satisfied by stepping up support for folklore and building ever larger ethnic museums and theme parks. In these regions, the evidence which power holders present as proof of progress and integration, and even as the accomplishment of an ancient civilizing mission, is interpreted locally in terms of assimilation. These tensions constrain the possibilities for anthropological research, for Chinese and foreign scholars alike. In his contribution to this issue, Chris Hann juxtaposes his impressions of the Congress in Kunming with his experiences of rural fieldwork among the Uyghurs of Xinjiang.