There's good news for Chinese traditional folk lovers.

The International Firebrand Festival of the Liangshan Yi ethnic group is to start on August 4th in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

This is the fourth year the traditional festival gets its international make over. This time it will focus on the fire culture of the Yi people.

A beauty contest, folk song and clothing competitions will be held during the gala.

The Yi minority is one of the many ethnic groups in southwest China. Their clothes are famous for colour and exquisite designs based on the natural world.

(CRI.com July 19, 2004)