Cool summer breezes arrive as torches light up Yi communities. The 2026 Liangshan Mianning Torch Festival in Mianning will be held from August 1 to 9, featuring the return of the grand feast for a thousand around fire pits.

The Original Torch Festival

With a history of over 2,000 years as an established city, Mianning County served as a key stop along the Lingguan section of the Southern Silk Road. Centuries ago, caravan traders and frontier garrisons built fire pits on-site to roast meat for sustenance—a tradition sustained for more than two millennia that gave rise to Mianning's distinctive "fire-pit barbecue" culinary culture, hailed as the birthplace of this open-fire grilling style.

Local ancestors used stones to construct hearths and pine wood as fuel, roasting wild game such as boar and yellow cattle without relying on elaborate seasonings, allowing the natural flavors to emerge solely through charcoal heat. This practice evolved into a unique, heritage-style barbecue technique. Today, this gastronomic celebration—blending historical customs with festive revelry—returns once again.

The Scenery of Mianning

The highlight of this year's Torch Festival is the feast for a thousand around fire pits: hundreds of traditionally built stone fire pits are arranged in orderly rows, with over a thousand visitors gathering around them to recreate the convivial scenes of ancient trade routes. Glowing embers radiate warmth as chunks of meat and free-range chicken sizzle on grills, filling the air with the rich aromas of rendered fat and pine smoke, offering an unparalleled culinary experience.

As night falls, the festival's revelry begins. Torches are lit one after another, forming a river of stars across the landscape. People of various ethnic groups circle bonfires, dancing the traditional Dati dance, their songs and cheers rising with the sparks into the summer sky, painting a vibrant picture of Yi community life. Visitors can also explore cultural landmarks such as the Yi Sea Alliance Site, Mianning Aerospace Tourism Zone, Lingshan Scenic Area, and Yele Lake, enjoying a seamless blend of cultural heritage, scenic beauty, and authentic local cuisine in the region's refreshingly cool 20°C river valleys.

An ancient trade route, a millennium of smoky aromas. This summer, Mianning warmly invites travelers from near and far to gather around fire pits, savor authentic barbecue, and immerse themselves in the unique fusion of historic trail legacies and Yi ethnic traditions beneath a sky illuminated by countless torches.

【本文部分内容由AI辅助生成，特此声明。The author(s) generated part of the content in this work with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), which is hereby declared.】