Slideshows Yunnan · Dali · Jianchuan
Shaxi Old Town 沙溪古镇

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

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

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 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.

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.

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.