Kuo Festival – The Lisu People's Carnival

"Kuo Shi" is a transliteration from the Lisu language, meaning "New Year's Day." The Kuo Shi Festival is a celebrated holiday among the Lisu people. Known as the most important traditional festival of the Lisu, it corresponds to the Chinese New Year. In the past, the Lisu determined when to celebrate based on their observations of natural phenomena, so each village marked the festival at a slightly different time—typically between the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month and the tenth day of the first lunar month, spanning roughly one month in total. Interestingly, this period coincides with the blooming of cherry blossoms, which is why the Lisu traditionally celebrate their New Year whenever the cherry blossoms come into full bloom each year.