Deng women are good at weaving

The Deng people live mostly by agricultural production, raising millet, corn, and vegetables, such as the pepper, bean and taro. Gathering is the major sideline. They also hunt and raise domestic fowls. The Deng people's costume is different from those of the other minority groups in Tibet, but similar to those of some minority groups from Yunnan Province. The Deng women wear long, sleeveless blouses and straight skirts, and wear silver, cresent-shaped fine-toothed combs, with ornamental engraving, in their hair. The men wear long, sleeveless shirts and scarves, which are made of cloth woven by the Deng women. They all carry a long knife, a necessity of everyday life and production. The Deng people believe that everything in nature has a soul, and have a custom of killing animals to exorcize ghosts.

The Deng people enjoy drinking and smoking. Their houses are long and windowless, like porches, with bamboo or wooden walls and floors. They have distinctive wedding and funeral customs, and have many taboos. Before 1951, the Deng people lived in the primeval forests flanking the Sang'ang Qu River at the southern end of the Hengduan Mountains. Having no transport facilities, they rarely had contact with the outside world, and life was difficult. A Deng folksong goes: "We live like monkeys in the deep forest, and see no sunlight all the year round." Now their life has undergone great transformation. Flanking the Zayu River are new villages, with new dwellings and terraced fields, the fragrance of rice filling the air. With the improvement of their living standards, their mindset has changed. Now they are masters of their own lives and enjoy equal rights with the other Chinese people.