Slideshows Yunnan Province 云南

Every year, on the 26th day of the 6th lunar month, the Yi in Fuchang 副长 village of northern Midu 弥渡 county conduct a ritual martial play called 操兵, meaning 'military drill', that commemorates soldiers going out to war in the Qing dynasty.

In Dali's Sanwenbi village 三文笔 a new statue in honour of Wenchang 文昌 is brought to life by painting chicken blood onto the statue's eyes, ears, heart, lips and fingernails.

Just a few old ladies of the Lotus Pond Society 莲池会 in Sanwenbi 三文笔 village attending the festival in honour of the local Benzhu 本主 is perhaps a sign of a slowly dying ancient religious culture.

On the birthday of 地藏菩萨 many Bai people bring offerings for the recently deceased to the 东岳庙 on the northwestern side of Dali's old town.

Caohai is a wetland area north of Heqing's county town.

In the abandoned Ming dynasty village of Like 利客 in Weishan 巍山 the ancestral altars of the 郑氏 Zheng clan remain.

Chinese Buddhists parade through the street on occasion of the Prince Festival 太子会.

Congregation of Chinese Buddhist on occasion of the Prince Festival in Jianchuan.

Around the time of the Taizehui in the second lunar month is also Shaxi's annual livestock fair, where on the far side of the river all sorts of domestic animals are traded.

Offerings to Caishen, the Chinese God of Wealth, are common during the Chinese New Year, particularly on the fifth day, Caishen's birthday. 跳财神 is a certain form of folk play honouring Caishen which dates back to the Tang dynasty. The Bai have adopted and preserved many Han Chinese traditions and the pictures here show the play performed in Zhoucheng 周城 as part of the Benzhu Festival.

On the upper floor of an old Bai farmhouse in Shangcang Village, Binchuan County 宾川县上沧村, next to the ancestral altar quotations from Chairman Mao have survived since the Cultural Revolution.

On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year the Bai of Qingshan Village near Shuanglang 双廊镇青山村 celebrate their Benzhu Festival 本主节 with a wild Daoist ritual climbing the Sword Mountain 刀山.