Wood Drum Festival of Wa People at Ximeng, China

Wa people used to be hunters roaming over Yunnan’s forested mountains, and the wood drum they worship now was probably used to intimidate dangerous animals by its thunderous clang. Almost every Wa village has such a drum, which is carved out of a big log, and on their Wood Drum Festival (Mugujie) every year, people of a village will haul back a log from mountains to make a new one, and then beat on and dance around it for their gods.
The festival at Ximeng county is usually from April 10th to 12th, but recently in an effort to boost local tourism, another one is added from May 1st to 3rd.

At Ximeng county, Pu’er

photo credit: 觉非行记/视觉中国