The Xibe trace their ancestry to the ancient Xianbei people, though there is no hard evidence to support this contention. At the time of the Mongol invasion, the Xibe were hunters and fishermen living in the far northeastern portion of China.

By the late 16th century, they had come under the domination of the Manchu leader Nurhachi; at this time they settled and began agricultural activities. In the late 17th century, in order to consolidate the Xingjiang border area, the Qing government moved many Xibe military and civilians to the frontiers, to larger Liaoning cities, and to Beijing. In 1764, 5,000 Xibe troops and their families were sent to Xinjiang to control the recently defeated Jungars, and this accounts for the present-day population of Xibe in the far northwest.

The Xibes, with a population of more than 27,000 in Xinjiang, have their own language. They believe in Shamanism. Daxian Mountain and the Nenjiang River are the cradles of Xibe civilization-it is where the Xibes originated and their culture developed.

The Xinjiang Xibe settled in a relatively good area for both herding and farming, and now do both. They raise wheat, wet rice, cotton, sesame, and fruits with the aid of irrigation. In Xibe families, the eldest son inherits his father's land.

Dressing style

Xibe males' dress is mainly long gowns, usually of blue, brown and black colors. The females also wear long gowns of the same style as the men, but with embroidered flowers on the sleeves. Young women prefer red, green and purple colors. Most of the women wear earrings, rings and bracelets. The elders wear white head wrappings in the summer and autumn, but wear a cap in the winter. Now the living standards are rising, and only the old wear long dresses, whereas the young people wear more fashionable clothes as most people do in other parts of China.

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