Tourists joined the Face-smearing carnival

Currently, the “2022 Puzhehei Face-Smearing Festival in Yunnan, China” kicked off at Puzhehei, a national 5A-class scenic spot in Qiubei county of Yunnan Province.

Over the next month, the Face-Smearing Festival will be held in a combination of on-site and virtual interactions. Other activities include “Face-Smearing Festival” mascot selection, intangible cultural heritage display, wetland biodiversity education, photography exhibition, and so forth. All of those aim to show the face-smearing culture and beautiful scenery of Puzhehei and let visitors experience the rich ethnic minority customs and passionate ethnic people in Qiubei. 

The Face-Smearing Festival is the oldest and biggest traditional festival and an exclusive traditional custom of the Yi ethnic minority in Qiubei for over 1000 years. Participants smeared each other’s faces to exorcise diseases and express their blessings and affections. Since 1999, various events related to “Face-Smearing Festivals” have been held annually.

This year, Qiubei county has focused on tourism innovation and taken proactive measures to improve the service in order to create an excellent tourism environment. The tourism of Qiubei has rebounded quickly from June with the increasing number of visitors. The daily tourist numbers of Puzhehei has exceeded 13,000. 

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(Editors: Ines, Amy)