Miao girls' unique silver horn.            Photo:poco.cn

Miao women love to dress in unique silver jewels from head to toe. They have many kinds of silver jewelry, including handmade silver headdresses, earrings, bracelets, rings, anklets, and hairpins.

Silver Headdresses

Huge Miao silver headdress are just one kind of special silver jewels only worn on special occasions like weddings or significant holidays.  The horns, hood, and hat are the three main parts of their silver headdresses.

Silver horns:  Miao silver horns are crafted to mimic the horns of an ox. The two horns can be as much as three feet apart! And they're quite tall, almost doubling the height of the wearer.

An image of two dragons playing with a pearl is often engraved on each horn, symbolizing wishes for an auspicious future. But each silver horn is unique. Some women adorn the horns with different kinds of silver pendants like phoenixes, birds, and butterflies. A pair of white feathers is usually put on the horns to make them even taller and more attractive. They really are a great example of some unique silver jewelry.

Miao women with silver jewelry.    Photo: efu.com.cn

Silver Hood: A handmade silver hood hangs off the back of the headdress and features several silver pieces simply fixed on a handkerchief. The hood usually has three layers. The first layer features 29 round silver flowers. The second layer has warriors riding horses. Small silver fringes make up the last layer.

Some Miao women wear another special silver hood, which features five ornaments: the biggest one covers their forehead, and the others fall around their ears.

Silver hat: As the sturdy base of a Miao silver headdress, a silver hat is about a foot tall and quite heavy. It's covered with silver pieces that represent birds, flowers, bells, and tassels. Behind it are a few pieces of silver feathers that can hang all the way down to their waist.

Silver Earrings

Unique Miao silver earrings often feature butterflies, birds, flowers, or dragons. Miao women like to wear big, heavy earrings, and many of them wear 4 or 5 pairs of silver earrings at the same time. In some areas, a these silver jewels can weigh over 200 grams.

These are some of the most exquisite examples of their special silver jewels.

Silver Neckbands

A Miao girl with silver jewels.   Photo:cnill.com

A Miao silver neckband is wide and heavy, and has many pendants hanging from it. Smaller silver necklaces are rarely worn.

One kind of dragon silver neckband is quite impressive. It features two dragons playing with a pearl and has 11 bright ornaments dangling from the bottom.

Silver Bracelets

Miao silver bracelets are made to represent flowers, plants, birds, or dragons. Some bracelets have a wide band that look like the cuffs worn by ancient warriors. Miao women like to wear 4 or 5 pairs of silver bracelets at the same time, because silver is a symbol of wealth and status in their society.

Silver Rings

Miao silver rings are always crafted out of the finest silver threads. In some Miao areas, women wear eight rings on all eight of their fingers, leaving only their thumbs free. Some rings are big enough to cover half the length of their fingers!

Silver Hairpins

The design of Miao silver hairpins varies, but they usually feature birds, butterflies, and flowers.

The most fashionable hairpins have 10 silver flowers lined up like a traditional Chinese fan. Some bright silver beads shine in the flowers and have five phoenixes flying around them.

A Miao woman's silver hairpin.     Photo: godpp.gov.cn

Silver Combs

Miao women wear silver combs in their hair as ornaments. A silver comb is made of wood and is covered with light silver slices.

Patterns of silver flowers, birds, dragons, or deer are carved on the surface of the combs. Some combs feature the image of a Bodhisattva, with several layers of silver chains dropping down.

Silver Garments

A unique silver garment usually has 44 silver slices sewn right into the fabric. Each round or square silver slice has vivid patterns like flowers, butterflies, tigers, lions, and dragons engraved on them.

Sometimes there can be as many as 60 silver bells and pieces of handmade silver jewelry hanging from Miao garments, making beautiful, sweet sounds as they dance.

Silver Waistbands

Beautiful, unique silver jewelry.                     Photo: lotour.com

A silver waistband displays tens or even hundreds of silver images of Bodhisattvas sewn on a piece of cloth.

One famous waistband displayed in a Miao museum features 105 unique silver Bodhisattva images, each of which has different facial expression and gesture, reflecting the incredible imagination and creativity of the Miao artisan.

Silver Anklets

Silver anklets are usually worn by children to drive away evil spirits and bring them a bright future.

And this is just some of the unique silver jewels the Miao make!