Slideshows Yunnan · Dali
Binchuan County 宾川县

Pingchuan Suona
平川唢呐

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The suona melodies in the region of Binchuan's Pingchuan town are part of Dali's intangible cultural heritage and are performed on festival days in the Pingchuan Guanyin Temple 平川观音寺.

Yang Family Ancestral Hall
杨氏宗祠

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This ancestral hall in a remote village near Binchuan's Pingchuan 宾川平川 is one of Yunnan's best preserved clan houses, built by the republican era general Yang Ruxuan 杨如轩.

Wocun Emperor Day
萂村天子节

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

Zhoucheng Wenmiao and Wumiao
州城文庙武庙

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The large Wenmiao and Wumiao Complex in Zhoucheng 州城 underlines the towns historic importance.

Naraka
地狱

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Depictions of Buddhist Hell in the Guanyin Temple 观音阁 in Zhoucheng 州城.

Binchuan Huadeng
宾川花灯

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Huadeng 花灯 "Flower Lantern" is a kind of local folk opera, combining folk song, dance and dialect, with the topic frequently modern life such as dating. Traditionally Huadeng is performed during Spring Festival, but now relatively rare. Huadeng has been recognized as intangible cultural heritage of Binchuan county. This is a performance of the county Huadeng Troupe, performing "Three Matchmakers" 三个媒人.

Chairman Mao Quotations in the Old Bai Farmhouse
老白族农舍的毛主席语录

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On the upper floor of an old Bai farmhouse in Shangcang Village, Binchuan County 宾川县上沧村, next to the ancestral altar quotations from Chairman Mao have survived since the Cultural Revolution.

The Wooden Benzhu of Zashipeng
杂石棚村的木雕本主像

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The Benzhu Temple of Zashipeng Village near Shangcang in Binchuan County 宾川县鸡足山镇上沧村杂石棚村 has some beautiful wooden Benzhu statues dating back to the late Qing dynasty.

Zhoucheng Old Town

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Zhoucheng in Binchuan County is another town that history forgot: stripped of it status as county town in the 1950s (its name means 'old town'), nothing much happened here since: Mao still adorns the walls of the ancient tower, the temple is rotting away and a dog is still waiting for its turn at the dog butcher.