Baoshan Festivals and Events

Volcano Hot Spring Cultural Tourism Festival of Tengchong

Date: October 1 - 8, 2009

Venue: Tengchong County, Baoshan City

During the Festival of Volcano Hot Spring Cultural Tourism in Tengchong, you may enjoy the epic performance for the opening ceremony as well as colorful ethnic and folk performances, including “sword-ladder climbing” and “stepping on a sea of flames” of Gaoligong Mountain tribes, Lisu’s Three-stringed Dance, Tengyue ancient style performance and jade carving works display. In addition, folk performances such as lion dancing, Dongjing (scripture cave) music, Lisu singing and tea art will be held, where you may enjoy the feast of Tengyue culture.

The Lisu people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who inhabit the mountainous regions of Burma (Myanmar), Southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

About 730,000 live in Lijiang, Baoshan, Nujiang, Diqing and Dehong prefectures in Yunnan Province, China. The Lisu form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. In Burma, the Lisu are known as one of the seven Kachin minority groups and an estimated population of 350,000 Lisu live in Kachin and Shan State in Burma. Approximately 55,000 live in Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. They mainly inhabit the remote country areas.

The grandest festivals are the Kuoshi Festival held on the first day of the lunar New Year, followed by the Zaotang Festival, and the most attractive Knife Pole Festival. In Chinese, people used to describe bravery with the phrase 'climb the Knife Mountain and dive into the fire sea'. On the eighth day of the second lunar month, if you visit the Lisu area, you will view the amazing realization of this saying through performances by brave Lisu men.