Culture
2025.07.26 16:15 GMT+8

The Torch Festival: Carnival of the East

Updated 2025.07.26 16:15 GMT+8
CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Yi people, dressed in traditional attire and holding torches, gather in the mountains and fields to celebrate the Torch Festival in southwest China's Sichuan Province. /CGTN

Thousands dress in vibrant handwoven attire, carry torches beneath the night sky and gather in the mountains for an annual festival of light.  

Every summer, the Daliang Mountains ignite with flames, music and motion. For Yi people, the Torch Festival is more than a celebration – it's a way of life. Fire, to them, is sacred – it drives away evil, blesses the land and links generations through shared rituals and memory.

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