"Vanishing Tribes" was founded in 1996 in Yangshuo,Guilin, China by one of the region's most renown connoisseurs of Chinese minority tribe artifacts, Jiang Dong Bo (Bobby). Mr. Jiang is presently the most respected authority on Chinese Miao, Yao and Li minority antiquities in this area. If you ask him how "Vanishing Tribes" came to past, he will tell you that his livelihood is much like artifacts that he collects and trades-- the result of patience, persistence, passion, and proper timing.

　　At the beginning of Mr. Jiang's career, during the 1980's, he acquired a hard-earned understanding of the business realm. Bobby Jiang's experience as the manager of a government food distribution company refined his accounting and sales disciplines as well as his work ethic. The nature of that work embedded the essential concepts of customer satisfaction and product value into his work practices. These lessons have inevitably contributed to his success as a salesman, collector, and educator.

　　Bobby Jiang's first product, rice, was sold for 0.278 yuan/ kg ( $0.0339 USD / kg). As China's economic system changed in the 1990's, the original rice distribution system, which employed Mr. Jiang, was abandoned. As a result, he was laid off. However, Mr. Jiang observed that, "China was opening up. Minority people were moving from the country-side to work in the cities, leaving their traditional beliefs and relics behind." Mr. Jiang sensed that, if the situation remained the same, there would soon be a time when the color of the minority tribes, the flavor of their heritage, and the lessons that their culture taught the world would be forgotten. Something needed to be done to preserve these relics and prevent them from becoming artifacts of "lost civilizations." The timing was right for a career shift.

　　Bobby Jiang is a well-seasoned connoisseur. He has spent countless hours interacting with the minority peoples, visiting them in the remote villages that their families have thrived in for centuries. Mr. Jiang is well-versed in the techniques with which the antique articles were crafted. "Each article tells a story about the life of its creator. The hand-made thread, the hand-crafted adornments, the carefully woven batiks, and the hand-stitched designs are all tangible pieces of a minority person's life."

　　Bobby Jiang understands his role extends beyond that of a business owner and salesman. Instead, Mr. Jiang views his work as cultural preservation and education. With this in mind, Mr. Jiang has begun designing the first minority tribe museum, dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of traditional wares, in Guangxi. The museum is scheduled for completion within the next 3 years.

　　"Vanishing Tribes" has also been constructed so that it produces a significant amount of revenue for the minority people groups, who would be exposed to harsh poverty otherwise. For every garment that his company receives from the minority communities, "Vanishing Tribes" returns a significant amount of support in form of: school supplies for the hill-tribes children and/or financial support directed at teaching