Slideshows

The suona 唢呐 is an important instrument in Chinese ritual and folk music. Here a Bai gentleman plays it as part of Azhali Buddhist rituals in the 催君寺 temple near Jianchuan 剑川.

Magic dances are part Azhali rituals: here it is the Flower Dance as part of the 太子会 in Jianchuan.

For many Bai the Torch Festival is the most important festival, here it is celebrated in a small village next to Erhai.

During the Ming dynasty terracotta figurines became popular funerary objects in Dali. These pictures are from the Dali Municipal Museum 大理市博物馆.

Binchuan's Wocun 萂村 celebrates its king of a brief kingdom between Nanzhao and the Dali Kingdom during the lunar New Year period.

An Yi ancestor worship ritual performed at Weibaoshan.

The Bai Rattlestick dance is part of Yunnan's Intangible Cultural Heritage, photographed at a training session near Dali's Old Town.

Pictures from the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Shibaoshan Songfest.

Different views of the Three Pagodas in Dali.

Cherry Flower in an upmarket Dali residential district.

Longwei Gate was once Xiaguan's city gate towards the north, the place where the caravan road to Tibet started. Today the area is Xiaguan's only remaining old part.

The white and blue tie-dye of the Bai in Zhoucheng is part of Yunnan's intangible cultural heritage.