Spring tea season

China's biggest holiday. In the run-up, Kunming's Dounan Flower Market 斗南花市 sells armfuls of blooms for the home, families gather on New Year's Eve for a reunion dinner, and in the first days of the year temples such as Yuantong Temple 圆通寺 fill with people burning incense for luck. Warm Xishuangbanna and the old towns of Dali and Lijiang are favorite holiday escapes for families from across China.

How to join: Visit a temple on the first or second morning of the year, walk a flower market, or ask to share a family's reunion dinner. Book trains and rooms well ahead: this is the busiest travel period of the year and prices climb sharply.

Etiquette: Wish people 'xin nian kuai le' (Happy New Year) and avoid talk of death or illness. Many small restaurants and shops close for the first three days.

The Naxi honor Sanduo, their protector god and the spirit of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, with offerings, Dongba priests chanting and big circle dances. Recent editions have opened with a torch relay carrying a sacred flame from Baisha to the main celebration in Lijiang's new town.

How to join: Join the circle dancing at the main public celebration in Lijiang's new town, where anyone can link arms (ask your hotel for that year's venue), or visit Sanduo's own temple, the Beiyue Temple 北岳庙 near Baisha, to see families making offerings.

Etiquette: Let worshippers go first at the temple and keep clear of the space where Dongba priests are chanting.

The Dai New Year is three days of ceremony that end in a town-wide water fight. In Jinghong the first day brings dragon-boat races on the Lancang (Mekong) River, the second a riverside market and a costumed parade, and on the last morning water is ritually drawn from the river before the splashing begins. Mangshi and Ruili in Dehong hold their own programs in mid-April, on dates announced locally each year.

How to join: In Jinghong, watch the boat races from the riverbank on the 13th, then on the 15th head for Water-Splashing Square 泼水广场 and the streets around it from late morning with a bucket or water pistol. Book rooms weeks ahead, as Jinghong prices rise for the festival. With children: the main splashing on the 15th soaks everyone, and the crowd around Water-Splashing Square gets very dense, so younger children may do better on a quieter side street or at a hotel's own splashing. Dress them in quick-dry clothes and strap sandals, agree a meeting point, and put a card with your phone number and hotel name in Chinese in each child's pocket. Can't make 13–15 April? The Dai Ethnic Park 傣族园 in Ganlanba stages splashing every day.

Etiquette: Water here is a blessing, so take a soaking with a smile, but don't splash monks, the elderly or anyone clearly not playing. Carry your phone and passport in a waterproof pouch.