Close up: rituals and traditions

Yi ethnic group

Ethnic Yi people number 7.7 million nationwide, according to the 2000 national census. Although their communities are spread over the provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, more than half of the total population lives in Yunnan province, where many signs are written in both putonghua and the Yi dialect.

Yi people worship fire, which they believe signifies the sun and wards off evil. As well as the annual Torch Festival, every March they hold zuo jiao wu, a traditional dance ceremony. In 2009, more than 10,000 Yi people took part in zuo jiao wu in Mouding county, Yunnan, to earn a Guinness World Record for the largest primitive dance performance.