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 Gourd Festival 葫芦节 is the main festival of the Lahu people. In Lancang, its date has been moved into April to coincide with the county's foundation.
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.
Traditional dress in the Erhai region.
Best surviving station on the French-built Vietnam-Kunming railway.
Brenda McLean: George Forrest, Plant Hunter
George Forrest, perhaps the most successful plant collector of his time, left little written about his numerous journeys to Yunnan, so this well-illustrated book fills in much needed detail about his life.
Yunnan's best preserved historic town.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Walnut Festival | 01 Sep |
| Yunlong August Trade Fair | 13 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship | 18 Sep |
| Lingrui Temple Fair | 18 Sep |
| Shihe Luban Festival | 18 Sep |
| Corpse Recovering Festival | 18 Sep |
| Yu An Hall Temple Fair | 18 Sep |
| Benzhu Worship | 18 Sep |
| White Elephant Fest | 20 Sep |
| Baoguo Temple Fair | 20 Sep |
| Yellow Dragon Temple Fair | 23 Sep |
| Autumn Equinox | 23 Sep |
Markets this Saturday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Zhoucheng | 州城 |
| Yongping | 永平县 |
| Paiying | 排营 |
| Xintun | 辛屯 |
| Lijiao | 力角 |
| Shijing | 师井 |
| Songgui | 松桂 |
| Caicun | 才村 |
| Diannan | 甸南 |
| Dali | 大理 |
| Zuòyì | 作邑 |
| Jiangwei | 江尾镇 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| 西庄 | |
| Changyi | 长邑村 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| 桥街 | |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| 寅街村 | |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Deju | 德苴乡 |
| Midian | 米甸镇 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Xinansuo | 新安所镇 |
| Mengla | 勐拉 |
| Daheishan | 大黑山乡 |
| Leyu | 乐育 |
| Xinxian | 新现乡 |
| Xinjie | 新街 |
| Baoxiu | 宝秀镇 |
| Shaochong | 哨冲镇 |
| Maandi | 马鞍底 |
| Xincheng | 新城乡 |