GoKunming Articles

Yunnan, Mekong countries on display in Washington DC

By in News on

Starting on July 4th a bit of Yunnan will be on display in the US capital as part of the 41st Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall in Washington, DC. This year the festival is highlighting folk traditions along the Mekong River - Northern Ireland and the US state of Virginia are also featured regions in the festival.

The exhibition area Mekong River: Connecting Cultures is focused on the ethnic, cultural and biological diversity of the regions along the Mekong River - known in Yunnan as the Lancang Jiang (澜沧江). Aside from Yunnan province, the Mekong exhibition also includes participants from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Kunming native Shirley Lung, now a US resident, has contributed her culinary knowledge of Yunnan to the festival. The Washington Post has posted one of her recipes, the classic Yunnan summer dish liangji mixian (凉鸡米线), or cold chicken rice noodles. For those of us in Kunming, feel free to substitute the dried rice noodles with fresh mixian from your local market.

For readers who can make it to the festival, it will reconvene on July 4 after a three-day hiatus and will run until July 8 at the National Mall. Hours are 11am to 5:30pm, with evening events scheduled for 6pm each night.

© Copyright 2005-2024 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Share this article

Comments

Actually the festival started last week and much video is already available of it online at the Smithsonian websites for those of too stranded in Yunnan to learn about Yunnan! The full run of the festivities were/are June 27-July 1 and July 4-8.

Login to comment