Shunzhou village celebrates Torch Festival

People in Shunzhou village, Lijiang, Yunnan province, celebrated the traditional Torch Festival with song and dance performances on Aug 11.

Organized by the Shunzhou government, the performances were given by Shunzhou locals and professional singers and actors from Lijiang city. The evening performance was even broadcast via micro blog by a college student who stayed home for summer holiday. The audience was impressed by the traditional ethnic dances.

As the local economy develops, especially in the flue-cured tobacco and breeding industries, locals are in need of more cultural activities.

Ma Tianyong, head of Shunzhou village, was happy to see the performances welcomed by locals.

The Torch Festival is one of the main holidays of the Yi people in Southwest China and is also celebrated by other ethnic groups of the region.

Edited by Zhao Qian and Michael Thai