Slideshows Yunnan · Dali
Dali City 大理市

On the birthday of 地藏菩萨 many Bai people bring offerings for the recently deceased to the 东岳庙 on the northwestern side of Dali's old town.

Offerings to Caishen, the Chinese God of Wealth, are common during the Chinese New Year, particularly on the fifth day, Caishen's birthday. 跳财神 is a certain form of folk play honouring Caishen which dates back to the Tang dynasty. The Bai have adopted and preserved many Han Chinese traditions and the pictures here show the play performed in Zhoucheng 周城 as part of the Benzhu Festival.

On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year the Bai of Qingshan Village near Shuanglang 双廊镇青山村 celebrate their Benzhu Festival 本主节 with a wild Daoist ritual climbing the Sword Mountain 刀山.

On Ghost Festival Day 中元节 the Bai in Longkan 龙龛 near Dali put lanterns on the lake to remember the ancestors.

In Longkan 龙龛 village near Dali, during the "Ghost Month", a spectacular fire dragon dance, with the dragon made of burning incense sticks.

Hands of the members of the Dongjing Association at Dazhuang Benzhu Temple.

Every three years, on Torch Festival Day, the villages of Haidong compete in a great Dragon Boat Race.

A weaving Yi family in 吊草 village, just south of Xiaguan.

The events for Raosanling the in lakeside Bai village of 马久邑 have little changed over a century.

A Bai folk music show in the small lakeside village 马久邑 near Dali as part of Raosanling 绕三灵.

After the Beginning of Summer 立夏节 early May, rice transplanting begins near the old town of Dali.

Bai people love their antiphonal singing, a improvised playful competition between men and women, full of innuendo and sometimes outright dirty. Here pictures from perhaps the nicest 对歌, held annually on 三月三 at 保和寺 near 湾桥.