Third Month Fair

[1][2] It includes a street bazaar, performances, sports, and games, and takes place annually in Dali City, Yunnan.

[4] An alternative origin story says that the festival celebrates the marriage of a princess, from the family of the dragon king of Erhai Lake, and a fisherman.

[2] The princess and the fisherman went to an annual market, held by gods and goddesses on the 15th day of the third month, that had precious stones and medicinal herbs.

[note 2] The Third Month Fair dates back to the Tang dynasty[2][8] and began as a Buddhist temple gathering (miaohui).

Stalls at the fair sell a wide variety of goods, including medicinal herbs, handicrafts, Pu'er tea, traditional candy, local ham, livestock, silk, gemstones such as amber and jade, wooden sculptures, embroidery, hats, shoes, kitchenware, fishing and farming tools, and furniture.

[8] A survey of the 2012 fair found hundreds of types of traditional medicine for sale, including some from other parts of China and from India, Myanmar, and Thailand.