Lotus season at Puzhehei

The Zhuang's spring festival honors ancestors and the new season with call-and-response singing, bronze drums, five-color sticky rice and shared meals. In Wenshan it is kept in Zhuang villages around Guangnan 广南, including Bamei 坝美, and in Funing 富宁.

How to join: County towns often hold public singing contests and markets on the day. For a village celebration, go with a guide or host who knows the families.

Etiquette: Accept the five-color rice when it is offered, and join the listening crowd rather than pushing to the front to film.

When the summer rains arrive, the whole province turns to wild mushrooms: markets fill with porcini, termite mushrooms, chanterelles and matsutake, and hotpot restaurants build their menus around them. Kunming's Mushuihua Wild Mushroom Market 木水花野生菌交易市场 shows the full range, Nanhua county in Chuxiong is famous for its mushroom trade, and Shangri-La is matsutake country.

How to join: Order a wild-mushroom hotpot at a busy, established restaurant and wait the full cooking time the staff give you before eating. For a foraging walk, go with a local guide.

Etiquette: Never eat mushrooms you or a stranger picked unless an experienced local picker has checked them and a restaurant cooks them, and make sure jianshouqing 见手青 is cooked through: undercooked, it causes hallucinations and puts people in hospital every summer.

Riders from across Diqing race Tibetan horses and show off tricks such as leaning from the saddle at full gallop to scoop scarves off the ground. Around the races there are guozhuang circle dances, food and craft stalls, and families picnicking in tents; in 2026 the four-day event was held at the Shangri-La Ethnic Sports Center 香格里拉民族体育中心.

How to join: Spectator areas are open to the public. Arrive in the morning for the main races with sun protection and a warm layer, since you're at about 3,200 m, and check the venue with your hotel each year.

Etiquette: Stay behind the barriers, keep drones grounded near the horses, and ask before photographing riders and families.