Watersplashing in Yongping
Ask for the Watersplashing Festival, or Poshuijie 泼水节, and everyone will tell you to go to Jinghong, capital of Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region: the 'biggest and best' Dai celebrations to mark their New Year are taking place there. And big it is. Thousands of Han Chinese and foreign tourist flock to Jinghong every year. Jinghong's Poshuijie certainly is big -- and very commercial. If big crowds and big events are your thing, go to Jinghong.
The watermills in Fengqing's Gumo village operate just like a thousand years ago.
Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-I: Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan
Fei is the father of modern sociology in China: western-trained, he came to Yunnan at the end of the 1930s when China's eastern universities relocated west. In "Earthbound China" he applied modern empirical techniques that he had pioneered around Shanghai to the Chinese hinterland. The economical development, and subsequent societal changes, of three un-named, but typical villages in Yunnan is analyzed in great detail in this fascinating study.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Reconstructed Qing Wenmiao, in a nice park setting.
C. Patterson Giersch: Asian Borderlands: The Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier
Yunnan was not always China: indeed not so long ago large parts of Yunnan were only nominally part of the empire. To make Yunnan, outside the main Han cities, a Chinese province required significant effort. Here Giersch's study on Yunnan's hinterland makes an interesting if academic read.
Bai vernacular architecture is very ornate, the style of painting is recognised as national level intangible heritage.
A history trading post on the upper reaches of the Yangzi.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Buddha Relic Worship | 17 Apr |
| Buddha Relic Worship | 18 Apr |
| Hanna Temple Worship | 20 Apr |
| Buddha Relic Worship | 21 Apr |
| Ximu Buddha Print | 21 Apr |
| Fumeng Bada | 24 Apr |
| Monihei | 01 May |
| Yangmei Festival | 01 May |
| Third Month Fair | 01 May |
| May Day | 01 May |
| Migan Festival | 02 May |
| Baitan Temple Fair | 04 May |
Markets this Monday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Wanqiao | 湾桥 |
| Biaocun | 表村 |
| Jizushan | 鸡足山 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Tuanjie | 团结 |
| Misha | 弥沙 |
| Baishi | 白石 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Shaping | 沙平村 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| Miaowei | 苗尾傈僳族乡 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| Taiping | 太平乡 |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| Baoshan | 保山市 |
|---|---|
| Xiaopingtian | 小平田 |
| Tengchong | 腾冲县 |
| Wama | 瓦马彝族白族乡 |
| Zhaotong | 昭通 |
|---|---|
| Shuanghe | 双河 |