Rice is a Zhuang staple food. The Zhuang people are extremely fond of sticky rice, a main ingredient for a variety of food specialities: pop sticky rice, deep-fried sticky rice cakes, Zhongzi (cone-shaped dumplings made of sticky rice wrapped in reed leaves) and sticky rice wine.

The “eight-treasure rice”, a large-grain and green-white sticky rice produced in Poxian and Kanlong Villages of Guangnan is a delicacy qualified to be a “tribute” to the king.

Like the Han people, the Zhuang celebrate the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-autumn Festival.

For the Zhuang in Fuling County, however, the most important traditional festival is the Longduan Festival celebrated in the third lunar month. Commodity exchange fair draws big crowds. Entertainment activities provide a great socializing opportunity for the young. 
In Guangnan County, this festival is called Flower Fair (Ganhuajie).

Most Wa festivals are heavily religion-loaded, as the Wa people are primitive religion believers.

Lamu Drum Festival, the most typical Wa festival, is usually observed before the harvest season in the 12th lunar month, to honor the God of Drum.

A huge one-tree drum is made and moved from the mountain by the villagers. Cows are sacrified. Priests chant incantations, praying for bumper harvest. Young people sing and dance around, to the rhythmic beating of the drum.

Heshi, or the “New Year Festival”, is the most important Lisu festival. The setup time for this festival differs from place to place, but usually it is celebrated sometime between the fifth day of the 12th lunar month and the tenth day of the 1st lunar month. During the festival, villagers join in antiphonal singing, “Guozhuang” dance and bow-shooting contest held on the village square. 
And of course, the festival is a great time for the courting young people.

Daoganjie (the Broadsword Pole Festival) on the eighth day of the second lunar month is a most thrilling Lisu festival. In celebration of this festival, two wooden poles of more than 20 meters are erected in the center of a burning fire, on an open ground. Thirty-six broadswords sharpened to shine are tied to the poles. The sharp blades facing the sun function as rungs of the ladders (the poles), three of which are scissors-shaped.

Eight Lisu “Xiangtongs” climb up the Daoshan (Broadsword Mountain) barefooted.
In the ancient times, the Lisu believed that only men of integrity could come out the test unhurt. Nowadays, it is more of the festive fun for the crowds and unsurpassed pride on the part of the brave Lisu men.

When the Xiangtongs reach the top of the Daoshan, they light up firecrackers they pull from their waist belts. The clapping hands of the crowds and cracking firecrackers mingle to celebrate the stunning feat of the Lisu men who, in the hail of the crowds, climb down the ladders, every step on the sharp blade.

When the flames of the fire ground surge up two meters high, the Xiangtongs jump into it. They dash in and out the fire many times, chaining themselves with blazing irons picked up from the sea of fire, and rubbing their faces with blazing charcoal.

Rice and corn are staple food on Lahu diet. Chili peppers, barbecued meat and water vine are Lahu people’s favorites.

The Lahu people are polytheism worshipers and primitive religion believers.

The Kuota Festival is Lahu Spring Festival. It falls on the first day of the first lunar month. At the first cockcrow on the first day of the festival, young men and women rush to the fountain to fetch the new water, a symbol of purity and happiness in Lahu culture.

They compete to be the first to get the water. Whoever wins the competition will have power over evils and enjoy longevity.

On the second day, village-to-village visits are paid to relatives and friends.
The last three days of the festival finish off with grand-scale Lusheng dance. All the villagers dance around the tables, praying for peace and prosperity for the coming year.

The Hani are skilled water terraced-rice field builders. Water terraced-rice fields in Yuanyang County of Honghe Prefecture, in particular, are beautiful landscapes on the grand scale, built into unbelievably numerous stairs and with much difficulty; you can´t imagine how they manage to build them.

Rice is a staple food on Hani diet. Sticky rice and sticky rice cakes are eaten in great quantity during the New Year. The Hani people are fond of sour and spicy food, such as vinegar meat, sour bamboo shoots and salted beans.

Kuzhazha is one of the most important Hani festivals. It starts on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month and lasts for three to six days. It is a Hani tradition to honor the God of Rice with sacrificed livestock on this occasion.

Young people play on the swing, sing and dance on the playground. When evenings falls, all the villagers gather around the bonefire. Young men sing love songs accompanied by musical instruments, waiting anxiously for the girls to respond.

The Zhalete, also called the “New Year of the Tenth Month”, ia a 5-day festival celebrated in the tenth lunar month. The main household ceremonial activity is to honor the ancestors and the God of Heaven with sacrificed pigs and chickens. 
This is a time to visit relatives and friends, and to make marriage proposals and arrangements.

In Yuanyang, the Long Street Feast marks the climax of the festival. All the villagers pitch in, bringing home food and drinks to put on the “long street”, a long line of tables arranged in the shape of a dragon on the main road of the village.

The grand-scale joyful “pot luck” party is coupled with a strong sense of competition for the best dish. Whoever wins the contest will feel proud for the rest of the year.

Like the Thais in Thailand, the Dai in Xishuangbanna believe in Theravada Buddhism. 
Rice, a stable food on Dai diet, produced in Xishuangbanna is the best both in texture and taste. Dai cuisine is just as exotic as the place. Just look at some of the Dai specialities and flavors: deep-fried moss, barbecued fish in sweet grass, sticky rice in sweet bamboo, yellow ant´s eggs and sour meat.

The Water Splashing Festival is the most important and best-known Dai festival. 
Originated from a Brahmanist rite, it has developed into a carnival festival for the Dai in Yunnan. The festival starts on the third day of the Dai New Year and lasts for three days. In Dai culture, water is a symbol of emotions and wisdom. The Dai people splash water to each other as a token of good wishes. Tourists are always invited to join in.

This is the happiest time for the Dai and the busiest time for the airlines and travel agencies, as people flood into Xishuangbanna for the festive activities, such as dragon-boat racing and elephant-foot and peacock dancing. 
This is a great time for romance and marriage.

In antiphonal singing, an expression of mutual love can be found. Also, any girl can single out the man she likes from a big crowd by throwing her beautifully embroidered bag to him.

Another custom is the “selling and buying chicken meat”, that is a way to pick the man she feels for from the scores of admirers who have come along. If the girl doesn´t feel anything for the “buyer”, she sets the price outrageously high, a denial signal to the man. She would give him a fair price if she has accepted the man.

Rice is a staple food on Bai diet. There is a variety of celebrated Bai specialities and flavors; fish pot and Xizhou cake in Xiaguan, cheese fan and carved berry in Eryuan, ham and rice cake in Heqing, and preserved winter melon in Weishan.

The Third Month Fair, a one-week commodity exchange fair starting the 15th day of the third lunar month, is a grand Bai occasion held on the open square at the west gate of ancient Dali. Horse racing, folk songs and dances draw visitors from cities and towns across the province.

Raosanling Festival (Festival of Traveling through the Three Holy Places) is observed from the 23rd to the 25th days of the fourth lunar month, around the Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, by beautifully dressed Bai people. This is a full 4-day revelry.

The first day is spent for overnight praying and antiphonal singing competition at Benzhu Temple and Shengyuansi Temple.
On the second day, crowds of people travel southward through Xizhou to Benzhu Temple of Hesi County, at Erhai Lake.

On the third day, the pilgrimage moves to Benzhu Temple of Majiu County, east of Chongshengsi Temple. The festival ends in prayers.

The Shibao Mountain Singing Gala is celebrated in Jianchuan County, from the 27th day of the seventh lunar month to the first day of the 8th lunar month. It is a great time for the young people who search for their future husband or wife.

Yunnan has no single climate, more like a series of micro-climates, mostly dependent upon elevation. In the Northwest winters are cold and dry, and summers are long and mild.
Southern Yunnan is hot and wet. Monsoon season lasts from about May to October.

Real time weather:

Average temperatures and rainfall:

Yunnan is the most southwestern province in China. It shares borders with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and with the chinese provinces of Tibet, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guanxi.

Area

Yunnan has an area of 394,000 square kilometers.

Population

Yunnan has a population of 43 million inhabitants. A third of them belongs to one of the 26 ethnic minorities that live in the province.

Capital

The capital of Yunnan Province is the city of Kunming.

Language

Mandarin chinese is the country’s official language, but in Yunnan other dialects and languages are also spoken. Kunming’s dialect is Kunminghua, but most of the people speaks and understands mandarin. Each ethnic minority has its own language.

Time zone

All China is GTM+8.

Currency

Yuan, also referred to as Reminbi.

Phone Code

China phone code: 86
Kunming phone code: 871

Famous Yunnan dishes are:

Across the Bridge Rice Noodles (guoqiao mixian)

This dish consists of a big bowl of steaming chicken and herbs broth, served with rice noodles and various plates with thin strips of meat, chopped scallions, tofu skin, pigeon eggs, etc. 
The broth is covered with a thick layer of oil, and very hot. The diner empties the plates into the soup, which cooks the meat and vegetables, and adds chilli, soy sauce and vinegar to taste.

Steamed Chicken Pot (qiguoji)

This dish is cooked in an earthen pot that has a small steam tube that rises from the middle of it. Chicken pieces and some vegetables are added to the pot and cooked for three or four hours. Some times some herbs, like pseudo-ginseng or chinese carterpillar fungus, are also included.

Rubing cheese

Fried goats cheese, sometimes served with sugar or black pepper and salt.

Yunnan Ham

Also called Xuanwei ham, it is produced in Xuanwei City in Qujing Prefecture. It is a slightly sweet cured ham.

Yiliang Roast Duck

The Yiliang roast duck is crisp in skin and tender in meat. Similar to Beijing roast duck, it is served with flowered spring onions, pepper and salt and plum sauce. However, unlike in Beijing where roast duck is skinned and wrapped in pancake, Yiliang duck is eaten as a whole.