“They all believe in Buddhism,” Nanqian said of the residents of Hongwansi, which sits at the foot of the snowcapped Qilian range of Gansu Province, considered the Yugur heartland. “They’ll come with their families for this ceremony.”

“The influence of religion is still great among the Yugurs,” he said.

It is not just religion that distinguishes the Yugurs from the Uighurs. Some Yugurs speak an Altaic language that partly resembles old Mongolian. Also similar to Mongolians, many Yugur families come from a nomadic background. They still watch after livestock. Herds of sheep roam grasslands outside the town.

These days, Nanqian and some residents of Hongwansi are struggling to preserve these central aspects of Yugur culture, even as the traditions fade among younger residents. The Yugurs are not well known in China. Serendipity led me to them: I came across their homeland while traveling in the Qilian Mountains to report on the effects of climate change in western China.