For a long time, the ethnic groups in northwest Yunnan’s Diqing prefecture have been kind to each other, creating diverse ethnic cultures.

Featuring multi-religious coexistence and multi-ethnic inclusiveness, the general cultural phenomenon in the area is a fusion of eastern and western cultures and a mixture of northern and southern customs.

After dinner every day, 70-year-old Gong Quding dresses up in traditional Tibetan costumes and dances on the Moonlight Square with other ethnic folks and tourists from afar. "Now we all better off and the songs and dances bond us closer,” said Gong.

To better protect ethnic culture, Diqing has identified ethnic cultural heritages, including 8 national heritages, 29 provincial ones, 106 prefectural and 80county-level heritages.

Around 400 inheritors of cultural heritages were recognized at different levels, together with 3 ecological protection zones for provincial ethnic traditions and 168 studios for passing down the intangible cultural heritages.  

The traditional Diqing ethnic arts of Achimugua, Xuanzi and Guozhuang all have shown distinct features at cultural events.

In an effort to fuse culture into tourism, Diqing also developed local specialties such as the Tibetan medicine, the Deqin silver products and the Shangri-La Kazhuo knives.  

At the first Shangri-La Tourism Development Forum in June, the city said it aims to be an international tourist city with the most distinct cultural features among the Tibetan areas.

Reporting by An Yonghong and You Xiangneng; trans-editing by Wang Shixue