Wa Moni Hei Carnival

The first spring flush is the most prized tea of the year in Yunnan's Pu'er country. In the UNESCO-listed old tea forests of Jingmai Mountain 景迈山, around Menghai in Xishuangbanna and at Bingdao 冰岛 in Lincang, families pick from old trees in the morning, then wilt, pan-fire, roll and sun-dry the leaves by hand.

How to join: Stay in a Jingmai village such as Wengji 翁基 (Bulang) or Nuogan 糯干 (Dai) and ask your host whether you can join a morning's picking and watch the leaves being processed.

Etiquette: Only pick where your host shows you, since every tree belongs to a family. Tasting is part of any visit; buying is never obligatory.

Mojiang, a Hani county town on the Tropic of Cancer, turns its Sun Square into a mass face-smearing party: everyone paints everyone else with a black paste of coffee powder and food-grade plant charcoal, a custom from Hani weddings meant to rub off bad luck. It runs alongside the International Twins Festival, when pairs of twins from across China and abroad parade through town, with bonfire dancing and a long-street banquet.

How to join: The smearing sessions in Sun Square 太阳广场 are free, and you only need to walk in; the twins parade (2–3 May in 2026) is free to watch. Take the high-speed train to Mojiang station, and book a room weeks ahead or stay in Tongguan 通关, about 40 minutes away.

Etiquette: Wear old clothes and cover your hair, because nobody leaves clean. Keep the paste out of people's eyes, and use the showers and bag storage set up near the square.

For three days, groups of Bai villagers in their best clothes, many of them older women, walk between temples along the west shore of Erhai, singing, dancing and playing drums and the bawang whip as they go. It is a pilgrimage and a spring outing in one, and one of the Bai customs least changed for tourism.

How to join: Watch from the villages along the road north of Dali Old Town, especially around Qingdong 庆洞 near Xizhou, where the groups gather at the Shengyuan Temple 圣源寺 on the first day. With a local guide you can walk a stretch with a group.

Etiquette: It's a religious event: ask before photographing, don't push into the dance circles, and dress modestly at the temples.