The Han and Dai ethnic groups are 2 of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by China. The first has around 1.2 billion people (87.7% of the country) and the second with around one million people, which is less than 0.1% of the total population of China.
The Han ethnic group is not only the most numerous in China, but also in the world. This is why there is a wide variety of sub-ethnicities within the Han throughout many other Southeast Asian countries, each with their own customs and cultures. Among them, a wide variety of dialects are also spoken, often with greater differences than those between European languages.
Genetically, the Han are close to other Asian ethnic groups such as the Koreans or the Yamato, and very close among the different sub-ethnic groups.
Dai mostly inhabits the Yunnan region of China. They were the first to cultivate rice with a novel furrow system. They also have their own calendar that begins in the year 638, and they celebrate each new year with a kind of "water festival" splashing each other in streets and squares to welcome the new year in April.
Dai and Han first had relations in the 1st century BC. This first contact was resolved with the levying of taxes from Dai to Han.
To these ethnic groups and the extensive region they populate, we owe such important inventions as paper, gunpowder, printing or compass, among others.
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