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.
Hand-made giant sparklers, called "Fire Flowers" 火花, are part of the firework displays for temple fairs in Menglian county.
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.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
The Danxia, or red sandstore, cliffs around Liming are a hikers' and climbers' paradise that is just now being discovered.
John Israel: Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution
Everyone knows about the Mao's Long March, but a few years later another long march took place: that of Chinese students leaving their cushy campuses on the east coast, trekking all the way to Yunnan where their universities reformed as Lianda, the united university. Kunming, then a total backwater, became a hotbed for new ideas, not just scientific. We liked the section of east coast girls scampering around Mengzi in their latest fashion.
Dali's biggest religious festival at the end of the fourth lunar month.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Dharmic Assembly | 31 Oct |
| Jingpo New Rice | 04 Nov |
| Benzhu Festival | 04 Nov |
| Benzhu Festival | 05 Nov |
| Sea of Blood Temple Fair | 07 Nov |
| Start of Winter | 07 Nov |
| New Moon Ritual | 09 Nov |
| Single's Day | 11 Nov |
| Yi New Year | 12 Nov |
| Hani New Year | 14 Nov |
| Meige Festival | 16 Nov |
| Mother Earth Worship | 16 Nov |
Markets this Wednesday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Shunbi | 順濞 |
| Wanqiao | 湾桥 |
| Haidong | 海东 |
| Shuixie | 水泄 |
| Shaba | 沙坝 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Zhongying | 种英 |
| Gonglang | 公郎镇 |
| Shanglan | 上兰 |
| Zhouguanying | 周官营 |
| Shundang | 顺荡 |
| Shangcang | 上沧 |
| 龙街 | |
| Gongguoqiao | 功果桥镇 |
| 云南驿村 | |
| 前所 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Zhicun | 芷村镇 |
| Niujiaozhai | 牛角寨 |
| Majie | 马街 |
| Lvchun | 绿春县 |
| Baiyun | 白云乡 |
| Nanke | 南科 |
| Yongning | 永宁乡 |
| Jinping | 金平苗族瑶族傣族自治县 |
| Baoxiu | 宝秀镇 |
| Shaochong | 哨冲镇 |
| Mengqiao | 勐桥乡 |
| Tutai | 土台 |
| Xincheng | 新城乡 |
| Hongtian | 红田 |
| Wenshan | 文山 |
|---|---|
| Pingzhai | 平寨乡 |
| Banggu | 蚌谷乡 |
| Muyang | 木央镇 |
| Nanping (Majie) | 南屏镇 (马街） |
| Qujing | 曲靖市 |
|---|---|
| Baiwu | 白雾 |
| Daqiao | 大桥乡 |
| Leye | 乐业镇 |
| Luna | 鲁纳乡 |
| Malu | 马路乡 |
| Sandao | 三道 |
| Shangcun | 上村乡 |
| Zhehai | 者海镇 |
| Zhichang | 纸厂乡 |
| Zhaotong | 昭通 |
|---|---|
| Shuanghe | 双河 |