The Dai give thanks for the rivers and fertile lands which have nurtured their culture.
Though to some it might seem just an excuse for the biggest water fight of all time. Dai lives are changing as towns get bigger and modernize but the Water Splashing Festival is still celebrated by all. The rivers which lie at the heart of Dai life and culture flow from the distant mountains of Tibet, southward through central Yunnan in great parallel gorges.
The Dai now live in the borders of tropical Vietnam and Laos, but their legends tell of how their ancestors came here by following the rivers from mountain lands in the cold far north.
Lying at the far eastern end of the Himalayas, the Hengduan mountains form Yunnan's northern border with Tibet.
Kawakarpo, crown of the Hengduan range, is a site of holy pilgrimage.
Yet, its formidable peak remains unconquered. Yunnan's mountains are remote, rugged and inaccessible.