Lisu Cultural Heritage Center (LCHC)
Lisu Cultural Heritage Center (LCHC) is the first place in Chiang Mai where visitors can view Lisu culture and heritage in all its varied aspects: ritual, music, livelihood, handicraft, and costume. In addition, the center holds a treasure trove of archival photographs of ethnic Lisu, the field notes of an anthropologist studying a particular Lisu village in C
hiang Rai province, as well as other documents related to the Lisu. The Lisu are one of the ethnic groups (hill tribes) in northern Thailand. They mostly live in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, and Tak provinces. The Lisu population all over the globe numbers about a million. There are two different groups among the Lisu, the flowery and the black. The flowery Lisu are mostly based in Thailand, whereas the black are based in China, Burma, and India. The differences between these Lisu groups are based on language, costume, and religion. Ethnic costumes
Highlights of a visit to the center include the multi-ethnic costumes on display, particularly Lisu women’s costumes. Visitors can observe the evolution of women’s costumes from 1972 to 2000. In addition, the center displays the distinctive embroidery of the Lisu: dancing tassels, leggings, traditional shoulder bags, aprons, silver designs and head decorations. Handmade products
The LCHC is dedicated to promoting and preserving Lisu handicrafts. Visitors can buy handicrafts made by villagers, especially those created by older ladies who painstakingly make the very beautiful traditional Lisu bags, a process done entirely by hand. Many of the handicrafts now available for purchase have been in steep decline in recent years and the LCHC hopes to revive these skills, breathing new life into traditional styles.
