Slideshows Yunnan · Dali
Jianchuan County 剑川县

Followers of Jianchuan Azhali Buddhism perform a candle dance in Shaxi.

Diannan 滇南 has a long tradition of making children's toys. They have been recognized as part of Yunnan's Intangible Cultural Heritage.

With the official programme curtailed, it is the unorganized folk part of the annual Singing Festival in Shibaoshan that continues to thrive.

Comical folk plays in the countryside, such as here in Jianchuan's Mijing village, often focus on agricultural themes, such as the stubborn draft animal.

The suona 唢呐 is an important instrument in Chinese ritual and folk music. Here a Bai gentleman plays it as part of Azhali Buddhist rituals in the 催君寺 temple near Jianchuan 剑川.

Magic dances are part Azhali rituals: here it is the Flower Dance as part of the 太子会 in Jianchuan.

Pictures from the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Shibaoshan Songfest.

Shaxi's Xingjiao Temple is one of the oldest temples surviving in Yunnan, constructed in 1415 during the Ming dynasty. Particularly remarkable are the wall paintings under the eves.

In the remote mountain regions of Jianchuan and Yunlong county the temples are often very simple with the local Benzhu belief displaying an element of animism.

In 2009, at the Shibaoshan Singing Festival, traditional dress in the Dali was more prevalent than it is today, and the dress was often still hand-made, rather than shop-bought.

Bai folk music star Li Baomei 李宝妹 and the Shibaoshan Bai Folk Music Art Troupe perform in her home village Shilong 石龙村.

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