Ethnic minority groups including the Dai and the De'ang in southwest China's Yunnan Province were in grand celebrations from Thursday to Sunday to observe the Water-Splashing Festival, feasting all participants including tourists from home and abroad with celebratory activities and delicacies full of local characteristics.
The Water-Splashing Festival, or the ethnic Dai calendar new year festival celebrated by some ethnic minority groups in China, is one of the most important festivals in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan. This year, the festival fell on Sunday.
During the grand celebration, an indispensable traditional performance in the region is the peacock dance. As Dehong is known as the homeland of the ethnic dance, local performance teams had lots of final preparations before the annual Water Splashing Festival grand parade.
"We Dai people will make three curved movements of arms in performing the peacock dance,' which is to mimic peacocks walking," said Yue Lao, an inheritor to the ethnic Dai peacock dance, which is a national-level intangible cultural heritage in China.
In addition to the peacock dance, local people are also celebrating the festival with various other kinds of ethnic dances and performances, as well as a long-street banquet to entertain all participants including with local cuisines. In Mangshi City of Jingpo, the banquet consists of over 200 tables.
"The Water-Splashing Festival Glutinous Rice Cake is made with glutinous rice and brown sugar, and we wrap the dough with fresh Hardy banana leaves and steam it. This is a must-eat delicacy for our Water-Splashing Festival," said Yang Wen, deputy head of Dehong's Culture and Tourism Department.
To conclude the celebration on Sunday, a water-splashing carnival was held at the center square of Mangshi, engaging locals and tourists to splash water on everyone around to "dispel bad luck" and share best wishes. From basins to water guns, people were bringing all kinds of "weapons" to enjoy together the excitement and jolliness of the festival.
Ethnic minority groups observe Water-Splashing Festival with tourists flocking in
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) warned on Tuesday that if the U.S. army crosses the red line in attacking civilian targets, Iran's response "will go beyond the region."
In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said: "We will not hesitate to retaliate vile aggressions against civilian facilities."
It came as tensions rose on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump made a social media post in which he threatened Iran's "whole civilization will die tonight," if they fail to meet the deadline he had set to reach a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, signaling a possible sharp escalation of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
On the same day, the IRGC announced that as part of the 99th wave of its ongoing "Operation True Promise 4," it has launched attacks on more than 30 targets across central, southern, and inland areas of Israel, covering Rishon LeZion and Petah Tikva in Central Israel, Beersheba, Dimona, and Arad in Negev region, and around ten locations in Tel Aviv.
It added that further retaliations would intensify, with Israeli industrial facilities, infrastructure and military bases all identified as potential targets.
The IRGC also said on Tuesday it had carried out strikes on U.S. bases and other targets in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, as well as on military command centers in the occupied Palestinian territories as part of the 99th wave of its operation.
According to the statement, the operations, jointly conducted by the IRGC Navy and Aerospace Force, carried out attacks with ballistic and cruise missiles along with attack drones in response to earlier strikes on petrochemical plants and affiliated facilities in Iran's southern coastal city of Asaluyeh.
The IRGC further claimed it had launched a long-range missile attack against the U.S. Navy's Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which is reportedly deployed in the Indian Ocean.
Separately, media reports said a large petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia's Jubail, which was owned by a U.S. company, was hit by medium-range missiles and drones.
Another container vessel, reportedly linked to Israel and believed to be preparing to transport military equipment from the Khor Fakkan port in the United Arab Emirates, was also said to have been struck.
Iran's IRGC vows "beyond the region" response if US hits civilian targets
