Slideshows

Guanyin is the most important figure in the Bai pantheon and on the 19th day of the second lunar month her birthday is celebrated at the biggest Bai temple in Dali.

One of the mysterious Yi ceremonies that have only recently received some attention: masked men creating mischief at night in the village of Gaiwasa 盖瓦洒 in Nanjian county.

The Hualuo of Manlong village in Xichou county are another very distinctive small Yi community in Wenshan. They celebrate their annual Buckwheat Festival 荞菜节 in lunar April.

The second day of the second lunar month is the day the dragon raises it head 龙抬头 or the dragon spring festival 春龙节, so it is appropriate that Yimen's Dragon Well Temple 龙泉寺 holds its annual temple fair on this day. Over time this had evolved into an event dominated by local plays, but sadly the drama now plays second fiddle to shopping and eating.

In Eshan 峨山 county, just a short drive south of Yuxi, the Yi mark Spring Festival celebrating the Kaixinjie 开新街, literally the Opening of the New Market. Held consecutively at various market towns, the huge street festival offers the best dragon dances one can find in the province.

The Caihuashan Festival is the Miao's way of marking the New Year - and even the Han Chinese admit that the Miao have the most lively celebrations. In Maguan the annual get-together has also become an occasion to show off in elaborate dresses, many costing several thousand yuan. Traditional the costumes may not be, but who is to begrudge the Miao, historically one of the poorest ethnic groups, their participation in China's growing wealth?

After more than 750 years in Yunnan, the Mongolian community in Xingmeng, Tonghai County, still retains its ethnic identity. Every three years, in December to commemorate their official recognition as Mongolians in Yunnan, they celebrate the Nadam Festival and honour Kublai Khan as their ancestor.

A cross-border China-Myanmar carnival to tie in with the holiday season with a dressed-up ox-cart (plus girl) procession as its highlight.

Nansan 南伞 right on the Burmese border has some colourful minorities -- Dai, Deang and some very well-dressed Miao -- who attend the five-daily market.

Donglianhua 东莲花 is a delightfully well-preserved Muslim village in the Weishan valley, only about a kilometer from Yongjian. Many Muslims made their money in the caravan-trade and often carry the surname Ma. The village, built around one of the largest mosques in Yunnan, has many impressive court-yard houses, decorated with images and mementos from far-away lands.

An invention to drive photographers to this remote township in Honghe county? If so, dressing Hani girls and women in hotpants has certainly worked, but the annual Girls' Festival is still one of the most enjoyable events in the province.

Until the end of the 1990s Han settlers in a remote area of Guangnan county lived in a village built inside a karst cave, their houses built without roofs.