During the year, colourful bigger and smaller festivals are being celebrated all over Yunnan. This is an overview of upcoming December festivities in Yunnan. Discover a diffrerent side of Yunnan by visiting local festivals!
Kuoshi Festival
Date: 20-22 December
Place: Nujiang, Lijiang, Weixi and Kunming (Yunnan Nationalities Village)
Kuoshi is a transliteration from the Lisu ethnic language, meaning “the beginning of the year". The Kuoshi Festival is the most important event of the Lisu people taking place each December 20th in Liuku in the Nujiang Valley (about 540 km east of Kunming) and some other places including Liming close to Lijiang (560 km north of Kunming) and Weixi, Diqing County (590 km north of Kunming) . Also, at the Yunnan Nationalities Village, close to the shores of Kunming's Dianchi Lake, the "Lisu Village" will have its own Kuoshi celebration.
For the festival, jubilant traditional activities are organised such as singing, dancing, crossbow shooting contest and enjoying oneselves on swings. As part of the traditional etiquette Visitors are usually served with a special alcoholic drink of the Lisu people, the so called "Heart-To-Heart Wine".
Transportation: To Weixi and Nujiang buses depart from Kunming's Western Bus Station. Also trains and planes connect Kunming and Lijiang. Find out more on our page for Train & Bus Tickets.
Christmas Celebration
Date: Christmas Day, 25. December
Place: Fumin County, Kunming
In Yunnan, the most popular places to celebrate Christmas Day are Kunming and Nujiang. Kunming has major churches such as the Sanyi Church (Renmin Middle Road) and the grandest celebration of Christmas Eve takes place in downtown. The Miao ethnic people in Xiaoshuijing Village (60 km east of Kunming) which is known for its peasant choir, also holds a traditional celebration.
The peasant choir of Xiaoshuijing Village, Fumin County
The Christian Lisu minority of Yunnan celebrates Christmas as well. In 1957 a new written Lisu language in Latin letters was introduced. Textbooks and even the Bible have been published in this special language. In the 1920s some Western religions began to spread in Yunnan's minority-inhabited areas. In the early 1950s, the number of Christians in Nujiang area had reached about 20,000, and over 200 churches had been built. Among the Lisu's population, about 25% believe in Christianity. At Christmas Day, Lisu people gather at Laomudeng Church, praying and singing in their language.
Singing in Laomudeng Church, Nujiang
Transportation: To Fumin and Nujiang buses depart from Kunming's Western Bus Station. It is quite troublesome the reach the small villages around Fumin by public transportation. Check out the transport options Wonders Of Yunnan Travel is offering
2015 Jiangchuan Fishing Festival
Date: 25 December
Place: Sanjiacun Village, Jiangchuan County of Yuxi City
The opening ceremony of the Jiangchuan Fishing Festival
The Fuxian Lake and Xingyun Lake endow Chengjiang County with very rich aquatic resources. Enjoying a long history, the mystic fishing culture in the county has owned many legends and tales. The best part of the Fishing Festival is the opening ceremony at Sanjiacun Village, some 120 km south of Kunming, where one can enjoy the scene of "a thousand people boating to fish". During the event, one can also taste the delicious local dish: fish prepared in copper pots.
Lijiashan Bronze Museum
Yuxi is historically part of the origin of the ancient Dian culture with a history of about 2,000 years, which is proved by the bronze culture of Lijiashan of Jiangchuan County at the bank of the Xingyun Lake.
Transportation: Take a bus from Kunming's Southern Bus Station to Jiangchuan, then transfer to a local bus to Sanjiacun Village or check out the transport options Wonders Of Yunnan Travel is offering.
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