Slideshows Yunnan · Dali
Jianchuan County 剑川县

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.

Not far from the county town is Jianchuan's Thousand Lion Mountain, a Buddhist Temple Mountain with some 3000 lions carved onto rocks.

Bai Azhali Buddhist rituals performed at Jianchuan's Caishen Temple.

In the small salt village of 弥井 in Jianchuan county Daoist Rituals are performed on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month.

Rhesus Macaques have settled the forest around Shibaoshan's Baoxiang Temple, thriving on ample tourist handouts.

Azhali Buddhism was prevalent in the Dali region from Nanzhao times, until suppressed by the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Jianchuan area it lives quietly on.

The crumbling courtyard of the Ouyang Family, just near Shaxi's famous market square, is one of the last unaltered compounds from the caravan era.

Fire-throwing is part of the Bai Torch Festival in Shaxi.

Shaxi's principle festival is in honour of the Taizi, one of the many deities in this small Bai town. On festival day, 'the Prince' is taken from his resting place inside the Benzhu Temple, strapped onto a horse and paraded around town in a grand procession.

Performances of Yunnan Opera 滇戏 are very rare today, but a small troupe of villagers from Shilong 石龙村 near Shibaoshan continue the tradition. They perform during Spring Festival and on occasion on the old stage in Shaxi.

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.