Global EditionASIA 中文双语Français
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Featured Contributors

Xishuangbanna, China's enchanting tropical borderland

By Bruce Connolly | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-04-14 10:33
Share
Share - WeChat
Intricate headdress worn by girl in Jinghong 1999. [Photo by Bruce Connolly/chinadaily.com.cn]

During his visit, Zhou attended Jinghong's famed Water Splashing Festival. The Dai people's close relationship with water is particularly exemplified during their Lunar New Year celebrations, falling annually in mid-April. The Festival (poshui jie) lasts three days, with dragon boat races, dancing, lush dining and a lot of fun. Splashing water symbolizes the washing away of past transgressions while creating a fresh start. This a way of bestowing blessings on each other, so the wetter the better.

The Dai heartland is the area of Ganlanba in Xishuangbanna, around 40 kilometers south of Jinghong and on the border with Myanmar. With an altitude only 530 meters above sea level, the environment is most certainly tropical, producing an abundant variety of crops and vegetation. Golden-haired monkeys and tigers are rumored to live in the forest depths — but thankfully I never encountered any, even while walking off-road and into the gloom of the jungle.

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next   >>|
Most Viewed in 24 Hours
China Views
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US