The 2009 Water-Splashing Festival will be hold at Xishuangbanna from 13th to 15th April 2009. It is the New Year festival of Dai people.

They celebrate New Year with a Buddhist water-splashing festival. The three-day event, centered on the town of Jinghong, features dragon boat races, traditional Dai dances and, of course, public drenching.

Each night the parks and streets move to the graceful rhythms of the peacock dance, believed to bring good luck, and the more driving pace of the elephant-drum dance. The second day is reserved for water-splashing, an activity designed to bring good fortune for the coming year. In reality this is a comprehensive soaking for which anyone is fair game (no exceptions for foreigners in other words - protect your camera!).

On the third day there is a more sedate custom of throwing miniature beanbags, or Diu Bao. Be warned that if you catch one you may have just landed a prospective partner! Finally, the event rounds off with an impressive fireworks display - no Chinese festival is complete without one.

The south Yunnan region, lying next to Laos and Burma, is a different China altogether. The fertile valleys and relaxed people (of which the Dai are the biggest group) make it delight to visit at any time. Sleepy Jinghong, the regional capital, is scattered with distinctive Dai temples and monks, and is surrounded by a beautiful combination of jungle and paddy fields.