BEFORE synthetic fibers were invented and their prices were brought down within the reach of the populace, people clothed themselves with the natural materials available in the surroundings where they lived and worked everyday. These vary from bark of trees to hide of animals. In the case of the Hezhens, an ethnic group in northeastern China, it is fish dermis. The Hezhens live in the plains along the Heilong, Songhua and Wusuli rivers in northeastern China. With a popula- BEFORE synthetic fibers were invented and their prices were brought down within the reach of the populace, people clothed themselves with the natural materials available in the surroundings where they lived and worked everyday. These vary from bark of trees to hide of animals. In the case of the Hezhens, an ethnic group in northeastern China, it is fish dermis. The Hezhens live in the plains along the Heilong, Songhua and Wusuli rivers in northeastern China. With a popula-