Another tradition is for Lisu people to feed dogs the first piece of pounded cake during the Kuoshi Festival. It’s said that this is to thank dogs for bringing grain seeds to the human world. There are many legends about dogs and grain seeds among the Lisu. For example: in ancient times, human beings wasted too much grain. The God became aware of this and was very angry, so he ordered all the grain be taken back to the Heaven. Human beings faced the disaster of drowning. At that disastrous moment, a dog dashed ahead regardless of its safety. It climbed up a pole to the Heaven, stole the grain seeds back and saved the human beings.

Brewing rice wine

At the festival, locals brew rice wine on the sand. To make the wine, they built campfires and set iron kettles on top of the fire. They then pound corn, sorghum, buckwheat or barnyard millet into pieces and steamed them. After the wine is boiled, they use a piece of gauze to filter the wine. When they drink, they prefer two people share the wine out of one bowl, which is called “heart-to-heart” toasting. This is deemed the highest honor offered by the Lisu people to drink wine, with faces touching faces and even mouths neighboring mouths. It shows the intimate kinship between hosts and guests.

People sing, dance and drink into the night in an ethnic carnival that truly showcases the colorful lifestyle of the Lisu people.

Editor: Liu Fang