In the past, ethnic groups in the northeast and northwest lived by hunting and so there was a large resource of animal skins. T
herefore, minorities living in the western regions of China 4000 years ago wore leather shoes.
By the year 302 B.C. in the Warring States Period (475—221 B.C.) , the craft of shoe-making was introduced to the central areas by King Wuling of the Zhao Kingdom and since then the dominant Han nationality began to wear leather boots. Until now,16 minorities including the Mongolians, Tibetan, Uygurs, Uzbeks, Xibe and Oroqen who live in the west, northeast and northwest still use animal skin as the main material in shoe-making.
