Culture of Zhaotong City

 

Like many other cities in Yunnan, Zhaotong has a great number of ethnic minorities. Among the 520 thousand minority people, Yi and Miao ethnic minorities dominate. In addition to the traditional festival of Yi and Miao, unique local operas, music and dances are all common entertainments in the Zhaotong People’s daily life.

 

Zhaotong boasts a profound historical culture and is known as one of the three headstreams of Yunnan Culture (Dali, Zhaotong and Kunming).

 

As early as 10 thousand years ago, there were Zhaotong people living in the area. During the Western Han Dynasty, Zhaotong was officially designated as Zhuti Shire. The Han Culture has been dominant in Zhaotong since then.