Why do people in northern Shaanxi tie a towel on their heads?
It's called a white lamb belly towel. Residents in northern Shaanxi and northwestern Shanxi usually wrap their heads with headscarves in spring and autumn. There are white sheep belly towels in Jinzhong and Lvliang all year round, holding hands in a circle on the top of the head. In Hequ area of northwest Shanxi, the back of the head is wrapped with a white towel and tied with a knot above the forehead, which is masculine and heroic, similar to the customs of northern Shaanxi. When you arrive in the southeast of Shanxi, you will wear a coarse cloth on your head and tie a knot at the back of your head, which is convenient and relaxed, and is called a "shawl". The special landforms in northern Shaanxi and northwestern Shanxi are the external factors for the development of white sheep belly towel. Due to frequent sandstorms, people who go out to work need to carry something with them to wipe the dust and gravel on their heads, faces and necks. At first, the towel was just a simple cloth, similar to today's facial tissues. As time went on, this cloth was replaced by soft sheep belly hair. Later, with the improvement of textile technology, they made towels from wool. This tripe towel has a good texture and feel, and farmers in the Loess Plateau wrap it on their heads. In addition to resisting sandstorms in spring and autumn, it can also protect against the sun in summer and the cold in winter. In modern times, the raw materials for making towels have already undergone earth-shaking changes, but the saying of mutton belly towel is still in use. The white sheep belly headscarf is a verification and epitome of northern Shaanxi culture, in which we can appreciate many things that cannot be passed down in words. Coupled with other unique things, such as folk songs, caves, * * * isomorphism, has become the cultural landscape of northern Shaanxi.