There are approximately 1,030,000 Dai people in China, most of whom populate the southern and western regions of Yunnan Province, including Xishuangbanna and Dehong Autonomous Prefecture; Lincang’s Gengma, Shuangjiang, Cangyuan; Huaping, Dayao, and along the shores of the Jinsha River in Luquan; and Wenshan, Xinping, Yuanjiang, Jinping, and Yuanyang along the shores of the Hong River. The Dai people mostly live close to the water in low-latitude and low-altitude areas, where the climate is warm and humid with plenty of rain and an average temperature of 21 degrees Celsius all year round. The main crop of rice can be harvested twice a year. Records of Customs of Southwestern Barbarians state that here “…crops are harvested twice a year, once in spring and once in fall…It is hot during all four seasons, particularly in May and June, when the water is like boiling soup and the rocks glitter like gold in the heat.”
