Slideshows

Far from their Dali homeland, the Bai of Yinyuan have preserved a distinctive costume and a particular dish: Migan, flat rice noodles, eaten like Mixian. In April, they celebrate the Migan Festival.

The Yaba Festival 哑巴节, which has been declared part of China's intangible heritage, is slowly developing into a carnival.

A festival of the Yi people around Yiwu township in Mengla county in honour of a local hero, celebrated with dance and performances.

A traditional Han festival in a small town just outside Kunming: the Yangzong temple fair starts off with a colourful procession through town carrying 'the world's largest' incense sticks up to the Longquan Temple on the day before Lantern Festival.

The Autumn Fair marks the beginning of the harvest period in Banqiao and is a good opportunity to see some of the Bai Yi in full dress.

Tianpeng 田蓬 right on the Vietnamese border in Funing county has one of the best varieties of ethnic minorities in Yunnan: many Miao, two groups of Yao, Yi, Zhuang, plus some people who come over from Vietnam. But what the area is most known for is that here even the Han dress up.

Kids dress up for the Yi New Year celebrations in Muxiang 木香 village in Funing county on the full-moon day of the sixth lunar month.

Chengzi 城子 is a beautiful Yi village in Luxi 泸西 county with hundreds of adobe dwellings nestled together on a hillside. In summer the red of the houses contrasts with the green of the rice fields below, while in autumn the yellow maize drying on the flat roofs gives a different dash of colour.

The mountains of Chuxiong's Wuding County, just two hours' north of Kunming, are home of some colourful Yi groups.

It is not Glastonbury, but the excitement is real when Gaoqiao's kids get ready for their big day at the annual Flower Mountain Festival.

The Yi Tiaogong Festival remembers victory in a protracted war after the Yi had to hide in a bamboo grove. But now, where most young people from the village have become migrant workers, the festival is slowly dying and will maybe not be celebrated again.

The Bailuo Yi of Chengzhai village in Malipo county are some of best dressers in the province. Here come a few snaps from their annual buckwheat festival, held on the first dragon day in the fourth lunar month.