I know what you must be thinking, February is still months away! However, for the ethnic Pumi people of southwest China's Yunnan Province, love is already in the air. That's because every summer, the Pumi hold a home-grown "Valentine's Festival" on the alpine meadows of Lanping County. It's a grand celebration of singing and dancing with a little dash of romance.

Who are the Pumi?

The Pumi are a small ethnic minority group living predominantly in Yunnan Province. It is believed they descended from the ancient Qiang people who once roamed the steppes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as nomadic herders. They held sheep in high regard, something that's still found in Pumi culture today: Whenever a Pumi passes away, a sheep is sacrificed so it can guide the soul of the deceased back to its ancestral lands.

Another perhaps less morbid example of sheep veneration in Pumi culture is the sheep-head mandolin. The instrument's body is always embossed with scenes of Pumi dance and music, while its strings produce a happy, banjo-y twang when plucked. It's the most popular Pumi instrument and is played at all major occasions, from births to weddings and even funerals.

What is Pumi Valentine's?

Pumi Valentine's is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which happens to be the same day as the Dragon Boat Festival. It's a season when valuable medicinal herbs are ripe for the picking, and during this time people would head into the mountains to try their luck. Afterwards, when resting in the valleys below, they would end up bumping into friends and strangers from other villages. In the past, when it was relatively difficult to travel from one settlement to another, this provided a rare chance for people to mingle and naturally, for romance to blossom.

Today, Pumi Valentine's Festival is a celebration of ethnic songs and dances. Despite the 'Pumi' in its name, the festival is an all-inclusive affair. Over 90 percent of Lanping's population belong to an ethnic minority group, something you notice right away when you look at the people attending this event. Aside from the Pumi in their trademark blue skirts, there are also ethnic Yi, Lisu, Bai, Tibetans and many more.

Festival goers spread out on the hills surrounding the central stage, reclining on grass and nibbling on local delicacies while enjoying the open-air concert as various troupes take turns to show off their best song and dance numbers on stage. It's no Coachella, but what the festival lacks in polish it makes up for in gusto. Many attendees bring their own speakers, so aside from watching the performances on stage, you can also find people enjoying a spot of impromptu karaoke or dancing around in circles to thumping EDM. There's a lot of fun to be had in the spontaneity of it all, and with everyone so friendly and inviting, it wouldn't surprise me if a few people managed to hit it off.

Visit the Pumi Valentine's Festival with Tianran He, host of Travelogue on CGTN. Travelogue broadcasts on Sundays at 7:30am and 4:30pm, Mondays 2:00am and Thursdays 1:30pm (Beijing Time).