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.
Jim Goodman: Children of the Jade Dragon: the Naxi of Lijiang and their mountain neighbours the Yi
In the first half of the 1990s Lijiang had barely made its appearance on the Chinese tourism stage, even less so the then remote mountains of Ningland and Lugu Lake. Jim Goodman's account of the Naxi and the Yi draws back to a time where not everything was staged for mass tourism: an account of a lost world.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Biggest festival in the Dali region, once Bai New Year.
Best surviving station on the French-built Vietnam-Kunming railway.
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.
Rushan is a dried cheese made from cow-milk.
Once an important salt-mining town, now the second largest town along the Heihui River north of Yangbi.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Northern Dipper Ritual | 10 Oct |
| Temple Fair | 10 Oct |
| Benzhu Festival | 11 Oct |
| Benzhu Worship | 11 Oct |
| Gongguoqiao September Trade Fair | 12 Oct |
| Flower Lantern | 15 Oct |
| Lajing Salt Road Culture Festival | 15 Oct |
| Holy Crane Festival | 17 Oct |
| Benzhu Worship (Eryuan Area) | 17 Oct |
| Benzhu Worship (Fengyi Area) | 18 Oct |
| Achimugua | 18 Oct |
| Benzhu Worship | 18 Oct |
Markets this Monday
| Kunming | 昆明 |
|---|---|
| Banqiao | 板桥乡 |
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Biaocun | 表村 |
| Jizushan | 鸡足山 |
| Qinghua | 清华 |
| Misha | 弥沙 |
| Tuanjie | 团结 |
| Baishi | 白石 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| Shaping | 沙平村 |
| Niujie | 牛街 |
| Zhongjiang | 中江 |
| Beiya | 北衙 |
| Miaowei | 苗尾傈僳族乡 |
| Jindunjiecun | 金墩街村 |
| Hedian | 禾甸镇 |
| Hongyan | 红岩镇 |
| Puping | 普淜镇 |
| Taiping | 太平乡 |
| Lijiang | 丽江 |
|---|---|
| Shunzhou | 顺州 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Shengcun | 生村 |
| Nafa | 那发 |
| Laozhai | 老寨苗族乡 |
| Longwu | 龙武镇 |
| Yafangzi | Yafangzi |
| Chemalong | 车玛龙 |
| Daheigong | 大黑公 |
| Jiache | 架车 |
| Longwu | 龙武镇 |
| Wuwan | 乌弯 |
| Puxiong | 普雄 |
| Zhongzhai | 中寨 |
| Baihe | 白河乡 |
| Puer | 普洱 |
|---|---|
| Jiangcheng | 江城哈尼族彝族自治县 |
| Mangxin | 芒信镇 |
| Qiannuo | 千糯 |
| 恩永 |