Slideshows

The Mute God or Yaba 哑巴 ceremonies in Xiangyun county have evolved into an elaborate Gesamtkunstwerk with dance, body ornamentation, sculpture and painting involving the entire Yi village. Compared to a few years ago, the imagery has taken on a much more sexualized character, maybe reflecting a need to create ever more outlandish 'traditional' festivals.

The old temple complex on 五印山 is the destination of the annual pilgrimage up the mountain for the 朝山节 of the Yi in Weishan county. This year they were collecting donations to build a new temple.

Once a decade snow falls on the Dali plain, dusting not only the Cangshan mountains, but also the old city and its beautiful pagodas in white.

The Danxia, or red sandstone, landforms around Liming, a charming Lisu township north of Laojunshan, are a hikers' and climbers' paradise that is just being discovered.

Bisezhai, near Mengzi, was once the second most important train station in Yunnan: passenger services between Kunming and Hanoi stopped here overnight and later a branch railway connected to the mines near Gejiu and Shiping. A fuel depot, ware-houses, accommodation for railway personnel, even a Greek-run guesthouse all developed around the station.

Fire-throwing is part of the Bai Torch Festival in Shaxi.

North of Bingzhongluo the road ends and Tibet begins: a narrow dirt track, still wide enough to carry supply trucks, follows the Nujiang up to Chawalong, a small commercial center for the scattered Tibetan villages beyond. Beyond it, transport is by caravan only. The trail winds perilously along arid slopes, sometimes with spectacular views of the snow mountains, until it reaches Bitu, connected by road to Tibet.

Late July is the season for the tasty Matsutake or 松茸. To this market on the outskirts of Zhongdian locals come to sell their pickings to the highest bidders, every mushroom assessed individually, the best morsels fetching more than 20Y.

Like the Yi, the Bai celebrate the Torch Festival at the end of summer.

Revived in 1990, Chengjiang's 立夏节 now marks the official start of the summer season on Fuxian Lake and is celebrated with a large market.

Laoheipeng is a small Yi village in western Weishan, right on the border to Changning county. The annual temple fair is not only an opportunity to get the Lusheng out, but also for some strange Taoist rituals.

Nanmei, on the slopes of a large valley not far from Lincang City, is the center of Lincang's Lahu and possibly the only place in Yunnan where the Lahu still wear traditional dress in everyday life.