Kapok cultural festival celebrated in Yunnan

Yunnan is worthy of the name “flower sea” as there are numerous varieties of flowers blooming all year round. Kapok trees are currently in bloom as spring comes.

From Feb 15th to 17th, tens of thousands of Dai people gathered together in the Manfadai Village in south Yunnan’s Jinghong City at the bank of Lancang River, to celebrate the cultural festival themed kapok.

Manfadai is close to a 600-mu forest of kapok trees. Every spring, when the ruddy flowers blossom, Dai women collect fresh flowers to cook a variety of dishes.

During the festival, local people and tourists celebrate under the kapok trees, enjoying traditional Dai folk dance, and watch performances including singing, martial arts, elephant foot drum and Dai costume show.

Baoshan city also held kapok cultural tourism festival, during which tourists experienced ethnic customs and tasted kapok cuisine. There was also intangible cultural heritage show.

By Dai Zhenhua, Yang Yanpeng, Li Jihong; Some photos from Xinhua

Editor: John Li