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.
Judith Shapiro: Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China
Even if Chinese civilization has developed more against than with nature, the Mao years were a particular exercise in environmental destruction. In one case-study Shapiro tells the story of the draining of the northern part of Dianchi Lake, one of the first steps turning Kunming's lake into the fetid cess-pool it is today.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Upper Benzhu Temple in Wase.
Best surviving station on the French-built Vietnam-Kunming railway.
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.
Fog swirling on a cold winter morning over endless rice-terraces, the red of the
early morning sun reflected in the flooded paddies: this is the classic view of the
Hani Rice Terraces of Yuanyang, now of UNESCO World Heritage status.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Dharmic Assembly | 31 Oct |
| Jingpo New Rice | 04 Nov |
| Benzhu Festival | 04 Nov |
| Benzhu Festival | 05 Nov |
| Sea of Blood Temple Fair | 07 Nov |
| Start of Winter | 07 Nov |
| New Moon Ritual | 09 Nov |
| Single's Day | 11 Nov |
| Yi New Year | 12 Nov |
| Hani New Year | 14 Nov |
| Meige Festival | 16 Nov |
| Mother Earth Worship | 16 Nov |
Markets this Wednesday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Shunbi | 順濞 |
| Wanqiao | 湾桥 |
| Haidong | 海东 |
| Shuixie | 水泄 |
| Shaba | 沙坝 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Zhongying | 种英 |
| Gonglang | 公郎镇 |
| Shanglan | 上兰 |
| Zhouguanying | 周官营 |
| Shundang | 顺荡 |
| Shangcang | 上沧 |
| 龙街 | |
| Gongguoqiao | 功果桥镇 |
| 云南驿村 | |
| 前所 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Zhicun | 芷村镇 |
| Niujiaozhai | 牛角寨 |
| Majie | 马街 |
| Lvchun | 绿春县 |
| Baiyun | 白云乡 |
| Nanke | 南科 |
| Yongning | 永宁乡 |
| Jinping | 金平苗族瑶族傣族自治县 |
| Baoxiu | 宝秀镇 |
| Shaochong | 哨冲镇 |
| Mengqiao | 勐桥乡 |
| Tutai | 土台 |
| Xincheng | 新城乡 |
| Hongtian | 红田 |
| Wenshan | 文山 |
|---|---|
| Pingzhai | 平寨乡 |
| Banggu | 蚌谷乡 |
| Muyang | 木央镇 |
| Nanping (Majie) | 南屏镇 (马街） |
| Qujing | 曲靖市 |
|---|---|
| Baiwu | 白雾 |
| Daqiao | 大桥乡 |
| Leye | 乐业镇 |
| Luna | 鲁纳乡 |
| Malu | 马路乡 |
| Sandao | 三道 |
| Shangcun | 上村乡 |
| Zhehai | 者海镇 |
| Zhichang | 纸厂乡 |
| Zhaotong | 昭通 |
|---|---|
| Shuanghe | 双河 |