Old-fashion full wooden swing, Baoshan Yunnan, China

Location: Baoshan, Yuanyang, Yunnan, China (23° 9' 15 N 102° 44' 52 E)
Date: 25 February 2007, 4.20pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5

Lunar New Year is not only celebrated by Chinese or more accurately, Hans. It is a festival that is also celebrated by many races and nationalities that are influenced by the Chinese culture- Vietnamese, Koreans, to mention a few- also celebrate Lunar New Year (LNY) in a big way. So it is not surprising that many of the ethnic minorities in China also celebrate a variant of the same.

The Yi is a minority residing predominantly in the south and southwest of China including Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi etc. They have different custom and a different tradition for LNY celebration. One of them is the Dragon Feast celebration which falls on the 8th day of the LNY. It is a boisterous event where residents of villages will have great fun doing all sort of things, including games, dancing, singing and of course voluminous of rice wine and feasting.