Culture of Kunming City

Kunming, reputedly “Spring City”, is endowed with time honored history, favorable climate as well as profound culture. The magnificent Stone Forest, fragrant flowers, amazing Dianchi Lake, grand Daguan Pavilion and featured Ethnic Village are what intrigues tourists to pay a visit. Apart from these renowned attractions, the profound Kunming culture also has much to offer to visitors. The characteristic culture in Kunming ranges from Dian Opera, eighteen oddities of Yunnan, Kunming tune, wax printing, which would be a great feast to the eyes’ of visitors.

Flower
The weather, water and soil in Yunnan are distinctive. While located in the middle of Yunnan, Kunming is richly endowed with nature. There, the flowers blossom in a riot of color regardless of the seasonal changes. In the winter, roses remain showcasing their delicate charm and even in January, roses are still blossoming. Thus, a saying goes like this in Kunming, “Flowers can be found everywhere in the city.” The flowers blossom year round contributing to its fame as “the spring city.” Kunming also boasts the biggest flower trading market throughout the country and its daily export-import volume tops all places in China.

When it comes to flowers in Kunming, a place that can’t be missed is the flower market in Shangyi Street. Crossing the central area of the city, Shangyi Street is characterized by its French architecture. Today, it has become the biggest flower market in Kunming. A saying vividly depicts the atmosphere in the market as the “Flowers are sold by catty.” Flower is the symbol of the city, a mundane detail of the local lifestyle and a way for the people to express their emotions. Flowers are rich in meaning in this region including its role in occasions such as birthdays, festivals, weddings, showing care to patients, visiting relatives and friends, and expressing feelings between lovers. In daily life, the local people pick up many flowers on the way home after work, elaborately trim and arrange them in a vase to decorate their homes.

Important Festivals
The Golden Hall Temple Fair
Time: The ninth day in the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar

The traditional golden hall temple fair is held in the Golden Temple Park. From the eighth to the tenth day in the first month of Chinese lunar calendar, the Fengming Hill swarms with pilgrims from around the country. Various specialties and famous local delicacies as roasted rice cake, canned rice-flour noodles, cold broad-bean-flour noodles and cold rice pastes can be seen everywhere from the foot to the top of the hill. The temple fair is just as lively as it is elsewhere. On the occasion of the temple fair, there are a wide range of famous specialties, local food and flowers competing with each other in beauty. In addition, there are different kinds of entertaining activities and popular performances.

The Yi Torch Festival
Time: June 24 (Chinese lunar calendar)

The traditional Yi Torch Festival is held in Shinan County, Lunan. Visitors can experience the festive atmosphere in the Stone Forest Scenic Spot. During the festival, from village to village, the local people prepare lavish meals, traditional attire and gather in a certain place to celebrate the festival. In the daytime, they have such activities as bullfight and wresting. At night, they gather to light up torches and pile them up like a “fire pagoda”, around which they sit, sing and dance. What an exultant picture!

Dian Opera

Dian Opera is a kind of local opera in Yunnan Province, which integrates various traditional Chinese operas introduced into Yunan during Qianlong reign in Qing Dynasty. Dian opera is of Yunnan features, which was born in 1821 and is prevalent among Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou regions. Dian opera is good at characterization and heroes in the opera are vividly-portrayed. Dian opera is featured with exquisite sensibility-presentation and lively language, which is brimming with strong folk ballad flavor. Although originating from Shaanxi opera, Anhui opera and Han opera, Dian opera differentiates from them after years of evolution and is of its own features, which integrates the dialects, local custom and folk songs of Yunnan together. The operatic tune of Dian opera is resounding, mellow and cheerful. Dian opera includes three kinds of tunes, namely, Stringed tune, Xiangyang tune and Huqin tune. Instrument for Xiangyang tune and Huqin tune is both dominated by Chinese violin, while stringed tune by musical-saw. Apart from those dominated ones, there are also other instruments accompanied, such as Erhu, Suona horn, flute and the likes. During Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty, Dian opera was widely spread among counties of Yunnan province. By the time of Republic of China, it had been pervaded in the whole province. After the people’s republic of China is founded, the Dian opera has created many plays reflecting the daily life of such ethnic minorities as Bai, Dai, and Hani people of China, which are well-reviewed by the public. Special attention is paid to singing, dancing and rhythm in Dian opera, which is comprehensive art of China.

Kunming Tune

Kunming tune is a kind of folk art on singing. It has many forms, folk song, ditty and ballad for example, which is prevalent among the suburb of Kunming City. No make-up and special place is required in Kunming Tune. Kunming is multi-ethnic inhabited and different ethnic minorities have different singing styles. Tune of Han people in Yunnan has diversified forms. Forms of Han tune generally include solo, duet and antiphony between men and women etc., each of which are sung while working in the field. The theme of the tune is mainly focused on wisdom, love and motherland-eulogizing. To Sani people, a branch of Yi ethnic minority, the tune is usually sung on festival, social contact, love-expressing as well as working. After People’s Republic of China is founded, tunes of Yunnan is greatly developed, which is performed in accompany with musical instruments. The most reputed Yunnan tunes in China include “Singing Folk Songs”, “Horse Driving Tunes”, “Rippling Brook”, and “Flooding Rivers” and the likes.

Wax Printing

Wax printing is a traditional skill prevalent among ethnic minorities in Yunnan province. It is featured with distinctive patterns, simplified style and exquisite designs. The procedure for wax printing is quite sophisticated. Dip the knife into the melted wax and draw delicate patterns on a piece of white cloth, then dye the cloth blue. After the cloth is already dyed, take the wax away, and the exquisite patterns drawn before would be revealed clearly on the cloth. Moreover, the wax layer cracks naturally while being dyed, which creates the special ripples on the cloth, making the patterns more vivid and life-like. With its unequalled features, varied patterns, elegant colors and unique style, wax printing is widely applied in clothes-producing and life- necessity-making.

Wax printing prevails in Yunnan, particularly prevalent among Miao and Bai ethnic minorities. Miao People has the unparalleled weaving skills passed down from generation to generation. Cloth made by Miao People is tender, tightly-woven, high-quality and durable, which enjoys great reputation in history. With the unbeatable weaving skill, the wax-printed works of Miao people are more marvelous and enchanting. Wax printing in Yunnan usually takes local scenery and folk custom as its main material, in which such patterns as peacoak, elepant, camellia and cuckoo are often applied. Wax printing in Yunan, as a folk art, has been produced as tourist souvenir and export commodity, which contributes a lot to the development of Yuannan economy.