94 Yin Cang Road, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China
Tel: 0086 872 2678222, Fax: 0086 872 2670222
Email: edad@public.km.yn.cn
Festivals of the Minority Ethnic Groups in Southwest China
Southwest China refers to Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces
located in Yunnan-Guizhou plateau and Sichuan basin, on the
southeastern edge of Qinghai-Tibet plateau.
In this region is inhabited by a variety of Chinese ethnic groups such
as descendants of the ancient Baipu group the Yi and Wa people,
those of Diqiang group the Bai, Tibetan, Naxi and Jingpo people, of
Baiyue group Dai, Shui and Buyi people, and of the Miao/Yao group
the Miao and Yao people.
Of all these ethnic groups, the Baipu is indigenous, the Diqiang come
from Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the Baiyue originally inhabited the
southeast coast of China, and the Miao is native of the Yellow River
valley. In search of an exoteric paradise, these ancient ethnic groups
migrated down numerous rivers into Southwest China.
Due to cultural isolation caused by complicated landforms in Southwest
China, here have been settled down many ago-old ethnic cultures, which
form numerous living ethnic museums characteristic of cultural
diversity.
Most festivals of Chinese minority ethnic groups originated from
prayer and entertainment ceremonies for gods' blessings. In ancient
times, Chinese ethnic people believed that everything in the world
ranging from the minor grass and trees to the major sun, moon,
mountains and rivers is possessed by gods which are closely related to
man's good or ill luck, and misfortune or good fortune, that the gods
would offer blessings when pleased, otherwise they befall people
disasters. Thus, the ethnic people in Southwest China not only stand
in awe of gods but also try every possible way to amuse them in
colorful and unique forms. In their belief, gods are transformed after
man dies and also have various human emotions and desires; for
instance, they enjoy delicious food, fine-sounding music and beautiful
dances. On festivals permeated with a joyous atmosphere everywhere
thanks to formation of a world of songs and a sea of dances on mobile
T-shaped stages, local ethnic people would offer slap-up food as
sacrifices dancing beautifully and piously to entertain their gods,
all dressed up in beautiful costumes and valuable adornments so as not
to offend the gods.
As a result, the gods are pleased and the ethnic people also quite
enjoy themselves, dancing untiringly and forgetting hardship and
worries in life, and restriction and depression from the secular
world.
Festivals are celebrated all year round in Southwest China, when
ceremonies of sacrifices to the gods of heaven, earth, sun, moon,
water, fire, Buddha and their ancestors have gradually become part of
daily life local people and are greatly influencing their offspring.
Even nowadays the ethnic people in Southwest China still remain
pure-hearted, that is, they have not become inane atheists despite
great changes brought by the time and progress in science and
technology, on the contrary, they still believe in ancestor-related
religions and Buddha, hold the nature and their ancestors in great
reverence, with absolute sincerity, and repeatedly celebrate festivals
for praying to and amusing their gods.
Of all such festivals the most participatory and influential one must
be the Jingpos' Munaozongge festival, the Bais' Pilgrimage Tour to
Three Temples also known locally as Raosanlin festival, the Yis'
Sacrificial Ceremony to the God of Fire, the Dais' Water-splashing
Festival and the Tibetans' Lamaist Devil Dance (ceremonial dance
performed by the Lamaists in exorcism).
The Jingpos' Munaozongge festival falls on the 15th till 17th day of
the First Month in lunar calendar. It is a festival for the ethnic
people to commemorate their ancestors. Before the festival local
people would erect four pieces of Munao poles engraved with patterns
of the sun, the moon and all cereals as well as their homeland they
yearn for by day and dream about at night the Himalayas, and symbols
of their ancestors' routes of migration known as "Munaoshidong" in the
ethnic language, towering above their village square. Of course, the
most striking scene are the dazzling and dreadful broadswords inserted
in the Munao pole. As a firelock signals start of the festival and
music of Dongba horns and flutes is played aloud, hundreds of Jingpo
men with broadswords in the hand and Jingpo women with colorful fans
in the hand, led by a sacrificial ceremony master "Naoshuang" wearing
a long gown and feather-made headwear, line up and dance into the
square, one moment striding proudly ahead and lowering their heads and
detouring the next in forms of migration to commemorate the history
Pilgrimage Tour to Three Temples is a festival for the Bai ethnic
people to worship their patron gods in Dali, local gods similar to
Athena the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, the practical arts, and
warfare. In Dali almost every village has a temple for a local patron
god. As such patron gods are believed to be in charge of good or ill
luck, disaster and blessing, local people worshipped by piously the
gods and the festival is the grandest for local people. Statistics
show that Dali has more than 100 patron gods, most of which only take
charge of a certain village, only the three patron gods including two
kings Duan Zongbang and Duan Chicheng are collectively worshipped by
every villages on a pilgrimage to the temples on the festivals.
The festival falls on April 23rd-25th, with the pilgrimage made in
units of household, that is, every household sends at least one family
member to participate in the activity. Generally every village forms a
pilgrimage team who gather at the Three Pagodas Temple before they are
led by two seniors, one man and one woman, and make their way to the
three temples. The two seniors, holding together a willow branch hung
with gourds and red ribbons, the man having a yak tail in the hand
while the women sway a piece of embroidered towel, together singing
"willow melodies", are followed by a long procession, some of who play
the three-stringed musical instrument and suona horn, some sing
antiphonal folk songs, some dance with a power whip, and the rest beat
octangular drums, to make the festival very lively. On the first day
they travel along the foot of Mt. Cangshan and arrive at the Shengyuan
temple worshipped as the deity's home place in Xizhou town of Dali to
offer sacrifice to the patron god King Duan Zongbao, singing and
dancing for a carnival fun overnight; on the second day, they come to
the Jingui temple near the Erhai lake to worship another king Duan
Chicheng, singing and dancing whilst looking for their sweet hearts;
and on the third day, they get to Majiuyi temple. The entire festival
features prominently delightful daily life.
The ancestors of the Yi ethnic people lived on slash-and-burn
cultivation in semi-mountainous areas. When greeting their New Year,
the Yis would see off the old fire god and welcome in the new. At the
festival some Yi lads even paint a variety of patterns on their own
body and disguises themselves as weird beats by wearing ornaments made
of tree branches, palm leaves and linen rags, to play the roles of
servants of the fire gods. At 4:00PM, all the villagers gather at the
square, when the Bimo sacrificial ceremony master and a master skilled
in drilling wood to make fire together start with the fire making
ceremony. First of all, they drill a hole through a stout log, insert
a thin bole as the pestle to rub while adding some fire weed to make
flames, when the excited crowds set off firecrackers, beat gongs and
play the horn to welcome the fire god; the people, carrying the fire
seed and a statue of the fire god, send the fire god to every
household, the procession led by the lads who disguise themselves as
wild animals and imitate movements of spirits with twigs and sticks in
the hand.
Water-splashing festival is a festival for the Dai ethnic people to
commemorate Sakyamuni. It originates from the legend of "fragrance
spraying and rain sprinkling onto the Buddha at his birth." As both
his birth and enlightenment are related to water, in Buddhist
followers' belief, water is no longer a common object but a holly
sweet dew and symbol of good luck. So good will and blessing is passed
on when the local people splash water onto one another during the
festival.
To realize the legend, the Dai people have built a palace that
resembles the home of Syakyamuni's parents dragon pavilion outside
which there is a dragon-shaped water channel to a water umbrella.
Before the festival the elders move the Buddhist statues originally
enshrined in niches out to the pavilion, and the Dai maids go to the
mountains nearby for picking flowers and getting water from wells of
clear spring, who then pour the fragrant mix of flowers and clear
water into the dragon channel. In a split second glittering water is
sprayed out of the dragon mouth and flows into the water umbrella and
then splash to the Buddhist statue. At the exciting view of splashing
water, the seething crowd cheer and throng to the Buddhist statue,
striving to wet flowers and twigs with the holly water and sprinkle to
one another to show their best wishes. Meanwhile, the Dai men fire,
set off firecrackers, and beat an Elephant Foot Drum (a drum worn at
the waist, with an hourglass shape that resembles an elephant's foot),
showing off a vibrant and animated atmosphere. In an impulsive and
uninhibitedly joyful manner, the crowd fetch water in buckets and
basins and splash to anyone they meet.
Lamaist devil dance is part of the annual ceremony for Buddhist
scripture chanting fair at Tibetan monastery. The ceremony is signaled
its start in a grandeur and solemn music, when lamas, well dressed in
festival costumes with masks of dog, yak deer and the death's heads,
symbols of Buddhist figures and patron gods, dance into the square to
have a competition of various mysterious dancing movements and
reappear sudden and heart-quaking stories in the history of Tibetan
Buddhism.
Each of so many festivals celebrated by the minority ethnic groups of
Southwest China, with its distinctive attraction and cultural element
to nourish the soul of local ethnic people, is an integral part of the
nation's diverse ethnic cultures.
Itinerary 1, Ancestor Worship Festival
This trip will take you to Northwest and West part of Yunnan, passing
through three big rivers: Yangtze, Salween and Mekong, seeing
different vegetations of the area from rainforest in Ruili to snow
mountains in Lijiang, visiting different tribes of people live in the
area such as Dai, Jingpo, Anchang, Lisu, Bai, Yi, and Naxi. The
following three festivals will tell you more of the people in this
region. Festivals to be visited:
1, Ancestor Worship Festival in Dali, Yunnan
On 5th of the first Lunar Month, Shuanglan hosts this festival on the
east bank of the lake Erhai. In Bai region, every village has it's own
patron God and has a festival to celebrate and worship the God. On
that day, you will see villagers carry the God on the street, sing,
dance amuse the God and themselves in various ways.
2, Mountain Climbing Festival at Mt. Jizu Shan, Yunnan
During the first two weeks of the Chinese New Year, locals will climb
up to Jizu Shan Mountain to worship the Gods and express their good
wishes for the coming year by doing lots of activities like praying,
offering, singing and dancing, come and find out more.
3, Munaozongge Festival of Jingpo people in Longlin, Yunnan
On 15th and 17th of the first Lunar Month, Jingpo people will gather
together in the village square, dance in circles with knifes and
towels just to amuse themselves and to remember the history of how did
they move from Tibetan highland to this region.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming.
Day 2, Drive to Dali, visit Three Pagodas, Temple of Goddess of Mercy
and old town of Dali.
Day 3, Drive to the other side of the Lake to see the Ancestor Worship
Festival and boat trip back
to Dali.
Day 4, Drive to Mt. Jizu Shan to visit Buddhist temples and join
locals for the Mountain Climbing
Festival.
Day 5, Visit Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses, drive to
Lijiang, visit the old town Day 6, Visit Black Dragon Pool, Naxi
Dongba Museum and Yuhu village where Dr. Rock used to
live in 1930s.
Day 7, Day trip to the First Bend of Yangtze and Tiger Leaping Gorge
Day 8, Drive to Baoshan via Salween River, with visits to Reclining
Buddha Temple and noodle
factory.
Day 9, Drive to Tengchong via Mekong River, visit Heshun village built
by returning oversea
Chinese.
Day 10, Day trip to Yunfengshan Mountain to visit a Taoist Temple,
visit Hot Springs and swim.
Day 11, Drive to Ruili via rainforests.
Day 12, Visit Leizhuangxia Temple, Dai villages and market on the
Burma border.
Day 13, Drive to Longlin to see Munaozhongge Festival of Jingpo
People.
Day 14, Fly Kunming.
Price: US$1180
Dates:
Jan.24th --- Feb.6th, 2004
Feb.11th --- Feb.24th, 2005
Itinerary 2, Dragon Dance Festival
This trip will take you to Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Starts from
southwest of Yunnan to see remote Wa and Dai people, three thousand
year old Rock Paintings and a festival of Wa. And then travel to
central and southeast parts of Guizhou to visit the famous Huanggoushu
Waterfalls and different sub-tribes of Miao and their festivals.
Following are the four festivals to be visited:
1, Spring Festival of Wa People in Cangyuan, Yunnan
The festival takes place during the first week of the first Lunar
Month, during the festival, people stop all the work and host all
kinds of activities, visit each other, dancing and singing throughout
days and nights to celebrate the beginning of the year.
2, Tiao Hua Cha Festival of Long-horn Miao in Longga, Guizhou
The festival is from 4th to 14th of the first Lunar Month, it's for
young people to look for friends and arrange marriage. During the
festival, every evening young boys from the same village will go
together to another village to look for girls, usually the girls in
the village gather together in a certain family and wait for boys.
When the boys arrive, they sit together with girls in a room with fire
in the middle, and sing instead of talk to each other to express their
love throughout the night. The boys go home the next morning and come
back again in the evening if they like the girls. If not, they will
look for other girls. The highlight of the festival is on 10th of the
Month, locals from all the villages gather together in their best
clothes for dancing and singing during the day. That's just what we
want to see.
Long-horn Miao People: There are only more than four thousand
Long-horn Miao People live in 12 villages around Longga in China. As
there was no road to connect with outside world, life hasn't changed
much for them, and marriage is just arranged within the tribe. Old
traditions are well kept.
3, Lusheng Festival around Kaili, Guizhou
The festival takes place from 5th to 23rd of the first Lunar Month in
different villages around Kaili, two days in each village. During the
festival, Miao people from the area gather together in the village
square, dress up and dance. Because the clothes are so complicated
that girls couldn't dress up themselves properly, mothers always come
with daughters to dress them up. On the square, people will dance in
circles with a couple of people in the middle playing music with
Lusheng. While girls enjoy themselves with dances, men are watching
buffalo fighting in the fields.
4, Dragon Dance Festival in Leishan, Guizhou
In the evening of 15th of the first Lunar Month, Leishan enjoys the
most exciting moment of the year. When it's getting dark, 20/30
dragons will dance through all the streets of the town with other
people setting off fireworks on them. They dance from one family to
another for blessings and good wishes.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming,
Day 2 & 3, Fly Nincang and drive to Cangyuan, visit Wa villages and
join them for the festival.
Day 4, Visit Dai villages in the area and three thousand years old,
Rock Paintings
Day 5, Drive to Nincang, visit tea plantations.
Day 6, Fly Kunming, visit old part of Kunming and relax.
Day 7, Fly Guiyang and city tour to visit temple, flower market and
Jiaxiulou Tower.
Day 8, Drive to Longga to see the Tiao Hua Cha Festival of Long-horn
Miao, drive to
Huanggoushu Waterfalls.
Day 9, Visit the Waterfalls and Dragon Place with boat ride in Caves.
Drive to Kaili.
Day 10 & 11, Enjoy Lusheng Festival.
Day 12, Drive to Leishan, with visits to local Miao villages and walk
in the countryside.
Day 13, Day trip to Xijiang to see the biggest Miao village in the
China. Enjoy Dragon Dance
Festival in the evening.
Day 14, Drive to Guiyang.
Day 15, Transfer to airport for your next destination.
Price: US$1280
Dates:
Jan.24th --- Feb.7th, 2004
Feb.11th --- Feb.25th, 2005
Itinerary 3, Festivals in Spring
This tour will take you to Yunnan and Guizhou to enjoy the nature
beauty of northwest Yunnan and ethnic people there and the festivals
of them, and also to Guizhou to see Maio people and their festival.
Festivals to be visited:
1, Sacrificial Ceremony to Fire God (Yunnan)
On 2nd & 3rd of the Second Lunar Month, Yi people would see off to old
Fire God and welcome the new one by hosting some ceremonies in the
village.
2, Taizhi Festival in Jianchun on 8th of the 2nd Lunar Month, Yunnan
Taizhi is the local name for the Buddha Sakyamuni, Sakyamuni was the
prince of a kingdom in India and he would be the king when grew up,
but he left his parents and saw the sufferings of people and wanted to
help them. So he decided to give up everything and created Buddhism to
help people to reach an idea life, and he did so. This festival is
just to remember the event that the Prince left the Royal Place and
created the Buddhism. The festival is held on the day he left his
parents. During the festival, people will clean up the status of
Buddha, carry it and travel through the village for hours, villagers
will get out to when the Buddha passes by.
3, Jiejinggu Festival in Weishan on 10th to 12th of 2nd Lunar Month,
Yunnan
This festival is also connected with the patron Gods of Bais, As Dali
and Weishan share the same gods and they live in different places
during the different times of the year. During this festival, people
of Dali will go to Weishan to welcome the gods to go to Dali. People
will sing, dance and pray during the festival.
3, Tiao Hua Cha Festival in Nankai on 15th of the 2nd Lunar Month,
Guizhou
The festival attracts more than thirty thousand Small Flower Miao
people to come to celebrate it. People will gather in the middle of
mountain with a platform in the middle to dance and sing, at the same
time, some traditional ceremonies are held by old people as well.
That's also the chance for young people to look for friends.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming.
Day 2, Drive to Mile to see the Sacrificial Ceremony to Fire God.
Day 3, Fly Lijiang, visit Black Dragon Pool, Naxi Dongba Museum and
Old Town
Day 4, Explore villages and monasteries including Yuhu village where
Dr. Rock used to live in
1930s and take some walks through pin forests to Puji Momastery.
Day 5, Visit the first Bend of Yangtze, Tiger Leaping Gorge and drive
to Jinchuan.
Day 6, Join Taizhi Festival and visit Shaxi Old Market Square left
from Tea and Horse Caravan
Trail. Drive to Dali.
Day 7, Visit Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses, boat trip
on Lake Erhai and Old
Town
Day 8, Three Pagodas, Cable car up to Cangshan Mountain.
Day 9, Drive to Weishan to see Jiejinggu Festival
Day 10, Visit Weibaoshan Mountain with Taoist temple, old town of
Weishan.
Day 11, Drive to Kunming and city tour.
Day 12, Train to Liupanshui.
Day 13, Drive to Nankai to see Tiao Hua Cha Festival.
Day 14, Drive to Hunggoushou Waterfalls and visit the Waterfalls.
Day 15, Visit Dragon Place with a boat ride in caves, drive to
Guiyang.
Day 16, Transfer to airport for your next destination.
Price: US$1280
Dates:
Feb.22nd --- Mar.8th, 2004
Mar.12th --- Mar.27th, 2005
Itinerary 4, Sister's Rice Festival
This trip will take you southwest China, traveling through three
provinces: Yunnan Guangxi and Guizhou. Enjoy the landscape of
northwest Yunnan, dramatic views of Guilin and colourful ethnic tribes
in Guizhou. Visit the people and join them for their festivals:
1, Sanyuesan in Dali, Yunnan
On the 3rd of the third Lunar Month, Dali hosts this festival at the
foot of Cangshan Mountain. In the morning, people will have some
religion ceremonies in a temple to worship the locals. And in the
afternoon, people will start to sing and dances, make picnic in the
open air to enjoy themselves.
2, Sister's Rice Festival in Shidong, Guizhou
It is said there was a beautiful girls grew up in mountain, but didn't
have chances to meet the boys and got married. A idea came to her and
her friends, so they found a place, built up tents, cooked and danced
there. Later on, many people arrived and joined them, people enjoyed
it and girls found the ones they loved. Since this event continued,
each year on 16th & 17th, the festival in held in Shidong, at the
festival, people will dance and sing. Young people look for friends
and arrange marriage with the help of the families. The festival is
from 14th to 17th of the 3rd Lunar Month, takes in Taijiang and
Shidong, two days in each place, but the last two days in Shidong are
much more attractive, so that's just what we want to see.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming.
Day 2, Drive Dali and boat trip on Erhai Lake to the east bank.
Day 3, Sanyuesan Festival and old town of Dali.
Day 4, Visit Xizhou Morming Market, traditional Bai houses and Three
Pagodas
Day 5, Drive to Lijiang, visit Black Dragon Pool, Dongba Museum and
Old Town.
Day 6, Explore Naxi villages and Monastery including Yuhu village
where Dr. Rock used to live in 1930s, walk for an hour through pin
forest to Puji Monastery.
Day 7, Fly Kunming and fly Guilin.
Day 8, Boat trip on Li River to Yangshou
Day 9, Explore the countryside, enjoy the nature beauty of Yangshou.
Day 10, Drive to Longsheng with visits to Dragon's Back Bone Terraces
in Longji.
Day 11, Drive to Zhaoxin with visits to Sanjiang Dong villages and
Diping Roofed Bridge of Dong people.
Day 12, Explore Dong village in Zhaoxin and enjoy the country life.
Dance with locals in the evening.
Day 13, Drive to Rongjiang with visits to Banshan Miao village and
Chejian Dong villages.
Day 14, Drive to Leishan with visits to Miao village and walk in the
fields.
Day 15, Drive to Xijiang to visit the biggest Miao village in China.
Day 16, Drive to Shidong to see Sister's Rice Festival, and drive to
Kaili.
Day 17, Visit Kaili Museum, drive to Anshun.
Day 18, Visit Huanggoushu Waterfalls and Dragon Place with boat ride
in caves, drive to Guiyang
Day 19, Transfer to airport for your next destination.
Price: US$1560
Dates:
Apr.19th --- May 7th, 2004
Apr.9th --- Apr.27th, 2005
Itinerary 5, Water-splashing Festival
This trip will give you the chance to see the nature beauty of Yunnan
from rainforests to snow-capped mountains, experience the different
weather conditions from hot sub tropic weather to the cold weather in
high mountains, and visit many ethnic tribes such as Naxi, Mosou, Yi,
Bai, Jingpo, Lisu and Dai. Learn about their culture and join Dai for
the Water-splashing Festival.
Water-splashing Festival
Falls on April 12th to 15th each year in the areas of Dai people, it's
the biggest and most important festival of Dai, It originates from the
legend of "fragrance spraying and rain sprinkling onto the Buddha at
his birth." Everybody celebrates it and gives blessing to others by
splashing water.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming.
Day 2, Fly Lijiang and drive to Lugu Lake with visits to Yi villages
on the way.
Day 3, Boat trip on Lugu Lake, Visit Mosou villages near the Lake to
learn something about Mosou people.
Day 4, Drive to Lijiang, visit the Old Town.
Day 5, Visit Black Dragon, Dongba Museum, Yuhu village where Dr. Rock
used to live in 1930s.
Day 6, Explore monastery and cable car up to Jade Dragon Snow
Mountain.
Day 7, Drive to Dali and boat trip on Lake Erhai.
Day 8, Visit Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses, Three
Pagodas and old town of Dali.
Day 9, Cable car up to Cangshan and take some walks there.
Day 10, Drive to Tengchong via Salween and Mekong.
Day 11, Visit Heshun village built by returning oversea Chinese and
Hot springs and swim there.
Day 12, Drive to Ruili via rainforests.
Day 13 & 14, Water Splashing Festival.
Day 15, Fly Kunming
Price: US$1280
Dates:
Apr.2nd --- Apr.16th every year
Itinerary 6, Mountain Worshipping Festival (Yunnan)
This tour brings you to the northwest of Yunnan, gives you the chance
to see Yangtze, Mekong and the highest mountain in Yunnan: Meili Snow
Mountain(6740m) and to walk on its glacier, tells you about Tibetans
and their strong religion belief, and also takes you to see more of
other ethnic tribes, nothing more than the following festivals to tell
you more of them.
1, Mountain Worshipping Festival
Falls on the 1st of fourth Lunar in Qizhong among Tibetan, Naxi and
Lisu people. Peoples will climb up to a monastery with cooking &
camping equipments to enjoy the festival in the mountain with sing,
dance, pray and walk around holly mountains.
2, Hongshan Temple Festival
Falls on 15th of the Fourth Lunar Month, all the fisherman near Lake
Erhai will gather here to worship the God of the Lake, to thank him
for offering so much fish for them to catch to make a living on.
During the festival, people will sing, dance and pray to amuse the God
and themselves.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming.
Day 2, Fly Lijiang and drive along the Yangtze via the First Bend to
Qizhong, a small town of Tibetans.
Day 3, Five hours hike up hill to ** Monastery to join Locals for the
festival. o/n Farm house
Day 4, See more of the festival in the morning and walk down to
Qizhong and drive to Tacheng. Day 5, Drive into mountain to see gold
hair monkeys and visit Lisu villages.
Day 6, Drive along Mekong River to Deqen with visit to Cizhong with
Church built by French.
Day 7, Day trip to Meili Snow Mountain to see the sunrise of the
Mountain and walk on glacier.
Day 8, Drive to Zhongdian via Benzhinan to visit Dongzhulin Monastery.
Day 9, Visit Songtzeling Monastery, Lapa Lake and local market.
Day 10, Take a five hours walk from Rotapo Hill to Ringsha Temple and
visit Tibetan villages.
Day 11, Drive to Lijiang with visit to Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Day 12, Visit Black Dragon Pool, Naxi Dongba Museum, Yuhu village and
Old Town.
Day 13, Drive to Lugu Lake with visits to Yi villages on the way.
Day 14, Boat trip on Lugu Lake, visit to Mosou villages along the Lake
to learn about Mosou people and matriarchal society system.
Day 15, Drive back to Lijiang and relax
Day 16, Drive to Dali, cable car up to Cangshan Mountain and take some
walks there.
Day 17, Visit Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses, Three
Pagodas and Old Town.
Day 18, Boat trip to the other side of the Lake and see the Hongshan
Temple Festival.
Day 19, Morning flight to Kunming.
Price: US$1460
Dates:
May 16th --- Jun.3rd, 2004
May 5th --- May 23rd, 2005
Itinerary 7, Raosanlin & Horse Festival
This tour brings you to the northwest of Yunnan, Gives you the chance
to see Yangtze, Mekong and the highest mountain in Yunnan: Meili Snow
Mountain(6740m) and to walk on its glacier, traveling among Bai, Naxi,
Lisu and Tibetan. The following festivals will highlight the tour.
Raosanlin Festival in Dali, Yunnan
Falls on 23rd to 25th of the fourth Lunar Month, Bai people would make
Pilgrimage Tour to Three Temples to celebrate this festival by
dancing, singing, praying and visiting friends to amuse the Patron
Gods and themselves.
Horse Festival in Zhongdian, Yunnan
Falls on 5th to 7th of the fifth Lunar Month, Tibetans in Zhongdian
host this festival to enjoy themselves. Men show off the skills on the
horse back and women dance in their best festival clothes.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming.
Day 2, Fly Dali, Raosanlin Festival.
Day 3, Visit Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses and see
more of the Festival.
Day 4, Visit Three Pagodas and boat trip on Lake Erhai.
Day 5, Drive to Lijiang and visit Old Town.
Day 6, Visit Black Dragon Pool, Naxi Dongba Museum, Yuhu village where
Dr. Rock used to live in 1930s.
Day 7, Drive to Liming via the First Bend of Yangtze.
Day 8, Visit Tortoise Mountain, drive to Tacheng.
Day 9, Drive into mountain to see golden hair monkeys and visit Lisu
villages.
Day 10, Drive to Deqen with visit to Cizhong with a church built by
French.
Day 11, Day trip to Meili Snow Mountain to the sunrise and walk on the
glacier.
Day 12, Drive to Zhongdian via Benzhilan to visit Dongzhulin
Monastery.
Day 13 & 14, Horse Festival & Songtzelin Monastery.
Day 15, Morning flight to Kunming.
Price: US$1280
Dates:
Jun.9th --- Jun.23rd, 2004
May 29th --- Jun.12th, 2005
Itinerary 8, Festivals of Guizhou
You will travel through southeast Guizhou all the way to Guilin in
Guangxi, seeing different ethnic tribes such as Gejia, Miao, Dong, Yao
and Zhuang, enjoying the different landscapes all the way, and seeing
different festivals of Miao for each departure date.
Itinerary:
Day 1, Arrival in Guiyang.
Day 2, Day trip to Huangguoshu Waterfall and Dragon Palace with a boat
ride in caves.
Day 3, Drive to Kaili, visit Kaili Museum to learn about ethnic tribes
in the area, visit Matang village to join Gejia people for dances and
daily life.
Day 4 & 5, Visit different festivals on different departures.
Day 6, Visit Xijiang, the biggest Miao village in China.
Day 7, Drive to Rongjiang with visit to Chejiang Dong villages
Day 8, Drive to Zhaoxin via Congjiang to visit Basha Miao village.
Day 9, Explore the area of Zhaoxin, join Dongs for a dance in the
evening.
Day 10, Drive to Longsheng with visits to Diping Roofed Bridge and
Chengyang Dong villages.
Day 11, Drive to Guilin with visit to Dragon's Backbone Terraces.
Day 12, Boat trip on Li River to Yangshou and visit markets of the
town.
Day 13, Explore the area to Moon Hill, Yulong Bridge, Fuli and Xinping
Day 14,Transfer to airport for your next destination.
Price: US$1080
##Dragon Boat Festival
Falls on 24th to 26th of the Fifth Lunar Month in Shidong of Guizhou.
Men organize in teams for boat racing and women dance in groups along
the river to celebrate this festival.
Date:
Jul.8th Jul.21st, 2004
Jun.27th Jul.10th, 2005
##Lusheng Festival in Gulong near Kaili, Guizhou
The festival falls on 27th 29th of the ninth Lunar Month in Gulong
village near Kaili, three days. During the festival, Miao people from
the area gather together in the village square, dress up and dance.
Because the clothes are so complicated that girls couldn't dress up
themselves properly, mothers always come with daughters to dress them
up. On the square, people will dance in circles with a couple of
people in the middle playing music with Lusheng. While girls enjoy
themselves with dances, men are watching buffalo fighting in the
fields.
Dates:
Oct.20th Nov.2nd, 2003
Nov.7th Nov.20th, 2004
Oct.27th Nov.9th, 2005
##New Year of Miao falls during the first two weeks of the tenth Lunar
Month, fthree days, dates are different each year. During the New
Year, people will gather together to sing and dance. Visit each other
and enjoy delicious food.
Dates:
Oct.30th Nov. 12th, 2003
Nov.17th Nov.30th, 2004
Oct.31st Nov.13th, 2005
Itinerary 9, Litang Horse Festival
This trip will take you to northwest of Yunnan and Kham area in
Eastern Tibet, visit Bai, Naxi and Tibetans, of course, Litang Horse
Festival will be the highlight of the trip.
Litang Horse Festival originally was a religion festival of Litang
Monastery started 300 years ago, just lasted for one day then. In the
morning, Lamas of the Monastery traveled around the holy mountain, and
held horse races in the afternoon to finish the activities of the day.
But the festival stopped in 1950 for political reasons, and started
again in 1963 but changed the programs and lasted longer: last for one
week, no more religion ceremonies involved in the festival, just for
horse races, Tibetan Opera, sing, dance and traditional clothes shows.
In order to remember the event that Red Army passed Litang in 1934
during the Long March, August 1st ( National Army's Day) was chosen to
start with the festival. Nomads from the area would gather on Litang
Grassland to build up the tents and take part in the festival. The
festival attracts more people each year, now there are over 2000 horse
and eight thousand nomads join the festival each.
Itinerary
Day 1, Arrival In Kunming
Day 2, Fly Dali, boat trip on Erhai Lake to visit local Bai on the
other side of the Lake.
Day 3, Visit Three Pagodas, cable car up to Cangshan Mountain at 2550m
to visit Zhonghe
Temple and walk on the Clouds Road for hours.
Day 4, Visit Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses and enjoy
the Three Courses Tea Ceremony with dances. Drive to Lijiang and visit
Old Town.
Day 5, Explore Monastery and villages including to Yuhu village where
Dr.Rock used to live in 1930s and walk through pin forest to Puji
Monastery. Visit Black Dragon Pool.
Day 6, Drive to Zhongdian with visits to the First Bend of Yangtze,
Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yi and Tibetan village on the way.
Day 7, Visit Songtzeling Monastery, Napa Lake, local market and old
part of Zhongdian.
Day 8, Drive to Xiacheng via mountain passes at 4380m with beautiful
views of the mountains and river gorges and pastures on the way.
Day 9, Drive to Litang via mountain pass at 4580m for fantastic views,
drive through Haizhishan mountain with lakes and million of rocks of
different sizes at 4200m.
Day 10, 11 & 12, Litang Horse Festival, Litang Monastery and nomads.
Day 13, Drive to Xinduqiao passing through grassland, river gorges and
mountains.
Day 14, Drive to Danba with a visit to Tagong Monastery.
Day 15, Explore villages near Danba, you will see a different style of
houses and tower buildings
of Tibetans here.
Day 16, Drive to Rilong and visit Sigulianshan Mountain.
Day 17, Drive to Chengdu with visit to Wolong Panda Research Center.
Day 18, Transfer to airport for your next destination.
Price: US$1360
Dates:
Jul.25th Aug.11th each year
Itinerery 10, Torch Festival
This tour will show you the nature beauty of the northwest part of
Yunnan including Dali, Lijiang, Zhongdian, Yangtze, Mekong and Meili
Mountain. Look into the people of Bai, Naxi, Lisu and Tibetans, and
the Touch Festival of Yis' will give you a better chance to know more
of Yi.
Torch Festival falls on 24th 27th, a few ethnic groups celebrate
this festival, but the Torch Festival of Yi people are more
interesting than any other groups, apart from making and lighting the
torches, they also host other activities such as: dance, sing, horse
races
Itinerary
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming
Day 2, Fly Lijiang, visit Black Dragon Pool, Naxi Dongba Museum and
Old Town.
Day 3, Explore monastery and village including Yuhu village where Dr.
Rock used to live in 1930s, walk for an hour in pin forest to Puji
Monastery.
Day 4, Drive to Zhongdian with visits to the First Bend of Yangtze,
Tiger Leaping Gorge and Tibetan Villages on the way.
Day 5, Visit Songtzeling Monastery, Tibetan village and local market.
Day 6, Drive to Deqen with visits to Dongzhuling Monastery and drive
over Baima Snow
Mountain pass at 4250m.
Day 7, Day trip to Meili Snow Mountain to see the sunrise and walk on
the glacier.
Day 8, Drive along Mekong to Tacheng with visits to Cizhong with a
church built by French and
Lisu villages on the way.
Day 9, Drive into mountain to see golden hair monkeys, and then along
Yangtze to Jiangchuan.
Day 10, Visit Shibaoshan Grottoes and old houses in Shaxi, drive to
Dali and visit the old town.
Day 11, Xizhou Morning Market, traditional Bai houses, Three Pagodas
and boat trip on Erhai
Lake.
Day 12, Cable car up to Mt. Cangshan and walk for a few hours on
Clouds Roads to visit some
waterfalls.
Day 13, Drive to Xiayuan to see the touch Festival.
Day 14, Drive to Kunming
Price: US$1080
Dates:
Jul.29th Aug.11th, 2004
Jul.18th Jul.31st, 2005
Itinerary 11, Masks Dance Festival
This tour will take you to Kham known as Eastern Tibet, to see the
nomadic life there and enjoy the beautiful landscape and explore
monasteries of Tibetans, at the same time visit the Masks Dance
Festival.
The Festival falls on the first two weeks of sixth and seventh Month
of Tibetan Year in Baiyu Monastery and Katok Monastery. Lamaist devil
dance is part of the annual ceremony for Buddhist scripture chanting
fair at Tibetan monastery. The ceremony is signaled its start in a
grandeur and solemn music, when lamas, well dressed in festival
costumes with masks of dog, yak deer and the death's heads, symbols of
Buddhist figures and patron gods, dance into the square to have a
competition of various mysterious dancing movements and reappear
sudden and heart-quaking stories in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.
Itinerary
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming
Day 2, Fly Zhongdian, visit Songtzeling Monastery, Napa Lake and local
Market.
Day 3, Day trip to White Terraces.
Day 4, Drive to Xiacheng via mountain passes at 4380m with beautiful
views of the mountains and river gorges and pastures on the way.
Day 5, Drive to Litang via mountain pass at 4580m for fantastic views,
drive through Haizhishan
mountain with lakes and million of rocks of different sizes at 4200m.
Day 6, Visit Litang Monastery, old part of the town and relax.
Day 7, Visit Nomads on the pastures and drive to Xinglong and visit a
monastery.
Day 8, Drive to Ganzi with visit to Ganzi Monastery and the town.
Day 9, Drive to Baiyu.
Day 10, Masks Dance Festival in Baiyu Monastery ( visit the monastery
)
Day 11, Drive to Dege with a visit to Katok Monastery ( Masks Dance
Festival in Katok)
Day 12, Visit the famous Printing House and monasteries in Dege.
Day 13, Drive to Manigango with visit to Lake Xinluhai.
Day 14, Drive to Ganzi with visits to monasteries on the way.
Day 15, Drive to Daofu, visit Daofu monastery
Day 16, Drive to Danba
Day 17, Explore the area of Danba to see unique houses and tower
buildings of Tibetan.
Day 18, Drive to Chengdu with visit to Wolong Panda Research Center.
Day 19, Fly away.
Price: US$1980
Dates:
For the festival in Baiyu Monastery
Jul.18th Aug.5th, 2004
Jul.7th Jul.25th, 2005
For the festival in Katok Monastery
Aug.16th Sept.3rd, 2004
Aug.5th Aug.23rd, 2005
For this trip, we use 4WD.
This trip can be combined with Litang Horse Festival tour in some of
the years. |