Apart from taking spring season tours around Chengdu city in April, what else could you plan in order to enjoy the amazing warmth, breeze, and fresh colours?
The answer is to take the train from Chengdu to Kunmin, if you really want to have a meaningful and unforgettable memory.
This is where you go.
Change to a clean, wide, and comfortable bus to Jinghong, the capital city of Xi Shuang Ban Na municipality.
This is where the border joins Burma and Laos in an area that breeds a brave, industrious, and energetic ethnic group known as the Dai people.

There, you will observe a grand ceremony----Po Shui Jie with many more participants in comparison with other minority festivals held in the Yunnan province. This large-scaled traditional festival originates in India and buzzes right through to China via Burma, and its history in China goes back for 600 years.
Starting from the 13th of April and lasting for 3 to 7 days, the Dai people put their whole hearts into this busy and spectacular celebration.
The day before the celebration begins the local people surge to temples and white pagodas around their villages, in order to clean their spiritual constructions, and pilgrimage their sacred spirits.

Children, on this day, are normally very ablaze with their holy ablution which hopefully brings them future luck, health, and happiness in the coming new year.
This activity, named Gan Dai (worship spirit), certainly lights up the festival flame and arouses people's passion.
As this minority loves water, more activities, during the holidays, are arranged on or near the river. Sai Chuan (boat racing), which is a team game, that includes men and women.
It requires effective cooperation to maintain high speed in the competition.
The candidates and spectators all shout shui., in a local dialect, that means cheering up.
You could probably hear the enthusiastic sound if you were sitting on a flight, which happened to fly over the river at the same time.

Meanwhile on the bank, some of the people pileup the sand into grotesquery shapes for a creative thinking match.
One thing is for certain; you will realise and possibly identify many engineers there, if that is what you want.
Also, Fang Gao Se (bamboo fireworks) will definitely attract your attention by their special style.
The Dai people tie bunches of hollow bamboos facing towards the sky, which contain fireworks and small gifts; they fix them on steady shelves in open areas in order to produce beautiful fireworks that spring out small gifts for the children's pleasure.



Very similar to Han (the Chinese majority's) temple fair, Gan Bai, a local market fair, mainly consists of local shopping products, and performing folk dances, which mimic the movement of elephant's feet using the rhythm of local drums.

Happy crowds also surround Peacock dances and rooster fights.
Meanwhile this holiday becomes a joyous occasion for the younger generations who choose their lovers by throwing and catching a little cloth package that contains cotton's seeds.
However, the most special ploy is the pouring of water for people, which comes from a touching story about 7 pretty girls who took their turn in holding a monster's burning head in order to put out the fire.

On this day, dressed beautifully the Dai people carry clean water, and shout in their favourite Dai dialect Shui, they continue to pour water for the people, and convey their best wishes to each other.

It is said that the more water you get, the more luck you will have.
But most certainly, the delicious local sticky rice bread should never be missed!

To make this dream a reality, read the following words, and make your wonderful plan:
Routs from Chengdu to Xishuangbanna:
Train: K 113 or K 2511, Chengdu-----Kunmin, 120-200 Yuan.
Bus: Air conditioner, Kunmin---Xishuangbanna, 180 Yuan.
Or sleeping bus, Kunming---Xishuangbana, 140 Yuan.
Flight: Chengdu----Xishuangbana(direct), 1230 Yuan.
Chengdu---Kunmin, about 600 Yuan.

Ordinarily weddings have an image of happiness, laughter, best wishes, delicious food, and a new life.
It should be a beautiful memory bank for people who are lucky to find their other half in life, but instead crying for the coming wedding, is a common custom, and is definitely not an ordinary affair for Tu Jia Minority.

Scared by a brand new life style, worrying about sharing the same house with the bridegroom's big family members, missing her own warm and lovely family connection, feeling sad emotion, the bride starts to cry for the forthcoming wedding.
The date that will take her far away from the place where she spent all her previous life, as well as scolding the matchmaker, she must leave half a month or at least three days ahead of the wedding date.
Being influenced by this sad separation, the bride's mother and sisters cry because they are losing their daughter or sister.
There is absolutely no happiness from the bride's family.
You cannot even see a slight smile on their faces.
This is indeed a sad occasion.

On the wedding eve, however, both the bride and bridegroom set ten people (9 unmarried boys in the bridegroom's house, and 9 unmarried girls in the bride's house.
A celebration, sitting around the mat, drinking wine, and singing happy songs, to bless the new couple's happy future.
This small-scaled celebration lasts the whole night and has a literal name as ten brothers or ten sisters.

On the wedding day a singing competition is enacted by two representatives, who are selected by the bride and bridegroom's family, this is an exciting plot.
Before the team from the bridegroom arrives at the bride's house, a table is placed at the front door.
The two representatives then start to compete by singing.
If the bridegroom's representative wins, the bridegrooms team members can move the table away, thus clearing a path to get the bride, otherwise, the bridegroom has to crawl to the bride under the table.

In the bridegroom's house, after the traditional worship to the spirits, and thanks to parents, plus friends, the bridegroom and the bride must race to their bedroom in order for occupying their respective places on the bed.
The left half of the bed is ready for the bridegroom while the right one is for the bride.
The clever bride will normally sit in the middle of the bed, a sign to imply she could be highly respected in the family.
Then, a cross hands wine performance becomes a must to accept the two people as a real family.