Slideshows

Songgui, a township in Heqing County in Yunnan's northwest, hosts a small but interesting temple fair on the 22nd day of the seventh lunar month.

Every year at the end of the seventh lunar month, the Bai of Yunnan come together at the holy temple mountain of Shibaoshan to honour their gods and to have a good time with song and dance.

The small town of Guandu is perhaps the last relic of what was once known as 'Old Kunming': narrow streets lined with small houses, temples abound, people walking.

The Hani celebrate the Kuzhazha festival at the beginning of the fifth lunar month.

Where once the carvans crossed the perillious Nujiang valley on their way from China to Burma and beyond are the tropical gardens of Lujiangba, a major fruit and coffee growing area of Yunnan inhabited by Dai, Lisu, Miao, Yi and Han Chinese.

Raosanling, a temple fair taking place at three villages around Dali in the fourth lunar month, is the most important religious festival in the calendar of the Bai people of Yunnan.

Salt was once the most precious commodity in Yunnan. Essential for the preservation of food, but quite rare in Yunnan, it made the villages where it could be produced rich. Nuodeng, nestled in the mountains of Yunlong county, is one of the atmospheric and friendly villages in Yunnan.

The Dai Watersplashing Festival in Yongping is one of the most traditional in Yunnan. Not much throwing water, but lots of worship at the temples.

The Huayao Dai of the Red River valley celebrate their Flower Festival early in spring.

Early spring paints the fields of Luoping a golden yellow.

The Miao of Ailaoshan celebrate the new year with a song, dance and competition.

The Angry River as Nujiang translates from the Chinese remains to this day a remote region inhabited mainly by Lisu, Nu, Tibetans and Dulong.