The festivals of China's 56 ethnic groups welcome visitors. The biggest Tibetan festival -- Shoton (Yogurt) Festival -- is also the setting of the Tibetan Theatrical Festival. Every year in the five days starting from June 30 by the Tibetan calendar, major Tibetan theatrical sects gather in Norbulingka (the summer palace of the Dalai Lamas) to hold performances and competitions.

The Nadam Fair in the grasslands is celebrated by Mongolians in the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Attractions include competitions in wrestling, horse racing and archery.

The annual festival of "March Street," associated with traditions honoring the Goddess of Mercy, is celebrated in the third month of the lunar year in Dali, Yunnan Province on Diancang Mountain.

The Water-Sprinkling Festival of the Dai ethnic group in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, is a grand and lively occasion in which people chase and pour water on each other among other activities such as a dragon boat race.

Lugu Lake on the plateau in the border area between Sichuan and Yunnan provinces has become a tourist destination following the building of a new highway that gives access to this area. Living around the lake are some 30,000 Mosuo people whose matriarchal society is noted for having preserved traditions such as fishing in dugout canoes.


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