Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, which is the largest ethnic Yi minority area in China, is located at the junction of the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Poor road conditions, backward villages and a primitive lifestyle were what people once thought of it. But after years of hard work, it has changed beyond recognition.

The beautiful scenery and varieties of ethnic customs have brought great resources to the tourism industry in the region, and tourism industry has thus become a way for people there to shed its poverty label.

As of the ethnic culture of this region, the Torch Festival of the ethinic Yi group is one of the most attractive for tourists. Butuo County, located in the hinterland of Daliang Mountains, is its birthplace.

The Torch Festival is Yi people's most solemn and grand traditional festival, and it falls on the 24th to 27th of the sixth lunar month every year. Though there are many versions of the origins of the Torch Festival, it mostly related to the natural worship of fire.

Fire is the symbol of the Yi people's pursuit of light, and it is believed to have the ability to drive away insects and pests and protect the growth of crops. 

On the first day, people sacrifice animals to greet the god of fire. The next day Yi people sing praises to the god of fire with many traditional activities, including wrestling, bullfighting, horse racing.

The atmosphere of the festival reaches the pitch on the last day. Dry pine sticks are used to make the main torch set at the center of the village, and villagers will set up a small torch in front of each house, the whole 
village is lit up at night.

People hold small torches and march in groups on the edge of the village, mountains, and ridges, and gather around the fire. Accompanied by the unique singing of the Yi people, people sing and dance around the fire.

On May 20, 2006, the folk custom was listed by the State Council to be among China's first national intangible cultural heritage items. It is now among the top tourist attractions of the region.

According to date released by authorities, 965,600 tourists were entertained in the autonomous prefecture during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in 2020, and the total tourism revenue was 863 million yuan ($133.6 million), and the culture and tourism market has recovered well after the COVID-19 epidemic.

The festival that inherits the Yi culture has brought more chances to the development of the local communities.

(Top image designer: Li Wenyi.)