In southwest Sichuan, a trip to the lake is a winter's treat

As the weather gets chilly, Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture is a must-go for the people in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Many go to Qionghai Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in this part of the country.

In winter, hundreds of thousands of migratory birds descend on the lake, which covers 31 square kilometers. Here the weather is mild in winter and hot in summer.

"Nearly 200 types of birds such as egrets, cattle egrets, herons, black-water ducks and black-headed gulls spend the winter at Qionglai Lake. Each winter, over 10,000 black-headed gulls from Siberia stay at the lake," says Ye Changyun, a local photographer who watches birds at the lake.

At other times of the year, the lake is known for the full-blown wisteria on its banks in spring and the blossoming water lily in its water in summer.

Fishing is banned in the lake during the first three months of the year. At other times, visitors can enjoy fish directly from the lake.

Local delicacies include grilled fish and fish cooked together with pumpkin in restaurants along the lake.

"There are more than 10 kinds of fish in the lake such as carp, silver carp and grass carp. Some of the fish can weigh as much as 15 kilograms," says Hua Qipin, a 77-year-old fisherman who has been fishing for more than 40 years in the lake.

Liangshan has China's largest concentration of Yi people and is home to nearly 3 million of them.

Latest statistics show that China has nearly 9 million Yi people living in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The most famous attraction of Liangshan is the torch festival of Xichang, the capital of the prefecture.

The torch festival is a celebration of ethnic groups in Southwest China on the 24th day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar.

This is when people of the Yi, Bai, Naxi and other groups remember their histories through the three-day festival.

The celebration fell in August this year.

The Yi people worship fire and there is a legend about how the torch festival came into being.

It is believed that long long ago, a god sent a subordinate to collect taxes from a local in Liangshan.

The local was not in and the subordinate then asked his family to give him food and liquor.

He then got drunk and then threatened to beat the local to death when they met.

The local returned, and then fought and killed the subordinate.

Irate, the god then sent pests to eat away people's crops.

The local and other Yi people then tried in vain to get rid of the pests before finally managing to do it with torches.

During the festival, the Yi people hold torches to celebrate their success in eradicating the pests, pray for good harvests, and sing and dance around a bonfire through the night.

There is also an event to choose the most handsome youngmen and the most beautiful young women. Contestants sing, dance and wear their best costumes, providing a visual treat to the audience.

huangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn