Munao ZonggeCuisine of the Munao Zongge Festival

• Category: Communal banquet
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan, especially Longchuan County
• Main Ingredients: Banana leaves, wild vegetables, grilled meats, leaf-wrapped roasts, pounded dishes, bamboo-tube rice, and others
• Also Known As: Jingpo Green-Leaf Banquet, Green-Leaf Long-Street Banquet

The Green-Leaf Banquet is the most iconic culinary form of Jingpo culture and an indispensable grand feast during the Munao Zongge Festival. Long celebrated in Jingpo mountain villages, it is prepared from the region’s exceptionally abundant natural plant and animal resources. More than a meal, the Green-Leaf Banquet is a culinary expression of Jingpo simplicity, local custom, and communal life. During Munao Zongge, the spectacular sight of a thousand people sharing a Green-Leaf Banquet returns year after year.

Its origins are closely tied to the mountain life of Jingpo ancestors. The Jingpo live primarily in the uplands of Dehong, Yunnan, where a complex mountainous environment helped shape a people known for boldness and resilience. In an age before conventional bowls, chopsticks, and tableware, their ancestors used what the mountains provided: broad leaves became plates, bowls, and even dining surfaces. From this emerged a distinctive culture of eating with green leaves. As a Jingpo folk song puts it: “山里的东西，绿的是菜，动的是肉”. Birds, beasts, fish, insects, flowers, grasses, fruits, and trees could all become part of the Jingpo search for food. The Green-Leaf Banquet is therefore one of the clearest embodiments of the Jingpo ecological ethic of “taking from nature while honoring nature,” and it is also regarded as the highest form of hospitality offered to distinguished guests.

The dishes of a Green-Leaf Banquet can broadly be divided into pounded, roasted, boiled, chopped, fried, preserved, and cold-mixed preparations. Typical dishes include Jingpo Ghost Chicken, fish and meats roasted in green leaves, meat and fish cooked in bamboo tubes, kneaded wild vegetables, pounded dishes, boiled mountain delicacies and wild greens, and cold chicken preparations. Particularly characteristic foods include bamboo-tube roasted meat, green-leaf braised meat, fire-roasted fish, Jingpo Ghost Chicken, pounded dried beef, kneaded wild vegetables, cold-dressed eggs, and boiled vegetables. Staple foods include chicken congee and bamboo-tube rice.

At the Green-Leaf Banquet, banana leaves take the place of bowls, while wild vegetables, grilled meats, leaf-wrapped dishes, and pounded specialties cover the table. Everywhere one looks, there is green—even the table itself is laid entirely with leaves. Each broad leaf becomes a distinctive “plate,” filled with the mountain delicacies and wild flavors of Jingpo cuisine.

Each guest receives an individual portion at the Green-Leaf Banquet. Bowls and chopsticks are unnecessary. Diners simply wash their hands, open the green-leaf wrapping, and eat directly, returning in a vivid and uninhibited way to the elemental character of nature. Drinking cups and soup spoons are likewise fashioned from fresh bamboo and leaves. Everything is taken from nature and, symbolically, returned to nature. Rather than relying on conventional tableware, the Jingpo wash their hands and open the wrapped food directly before eating.

The Green-Leaf Banquet carries some of the highest ideals of Jingpo culinary culture. First, “returning to nature.” Leaves become table, plate, and bowl, recalling and honoring the mountain life of Jingpo ancestors. Second, “revering Heaven and cherishing nature’s gifts.” “山里的东西，绿的是菜，动的是肉”: birds, beasts, fish, insects, flowers, plants, fruits, and trees all fall within the Jingpo world of food, reflecting gratitude for and careful use of what nature provides. Third, “the highest hospitality.” The Green-Leaf Banquet is the most honored form of hospitality in Jingpo culture. During Munao Zongge, a thousand people sharing the feast together brings the Jingpo spirit of communal eating to its fullest expression. Fourth, “a thousand people at one feast.” The mass Green-Leaf Banquet is a collective ritual of celebrating auspiciousness, happiness, and a good harvest.

• Category: Cold-mixed dish
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Black-bone chicken or free-range mountain chicken, bird’s-eye chili, cilantro, lemon, rock ginger, garlic
• Also Known As: Ghost Chicken, Jingpo cold-mixed chicken

Jingpo Ghost Chicken is one of the most representative traditional Jingpo foods and one of the great centerpieces of the Green-Leaf Banquet. Its name sounds intimidating, yet the dish itself is intensely fresh and aromatic. The Jingpo traditionally use chickens as offerings to spirits and deities. Once the ritual has ended, the cooked chicken is torn into pieces and mixed outdoors with bird’s-eye chili, cilantro, lemon, and other ingredients. This is the origin of Jingpo Ghost Chicken: the name may invoke “ghosts,” but the flavor is celebrated as something extraordinary.

The history of the dish is closely tied to traditional Jingpo religious beliefs. In those traditions, chickens serve as important ritual offerings to supernatural beings. Once the ceremony is complete, the offering must not be wasted. People tear the chicken into pieces and combine it with mountain herbs and spices gathered locally. Through this custom of “sharing the offering after sacrifice,” Ghost Chicken moved from the world of ritual to the everyday table, from honoring the divine to bringing pleasure to people.

Jingpo Ghost Chicken may appear simple, but much depends on the choice of chicken and the balance among rock ginger, garlic, bird’s-eye chili, lemon leaves, and other seasonings. A free-range mountain chicken is cooked and then torn into fine strips. Lemon, bird’s-eye chili, and distinctive Jingpo aromatics are added and thoroughly mixed. Prepared in this Jingpo fashion, the chicken becomes tender and juicy, bright with sourness and heat.

The choice and hand-tearing of the meat are essential. The chicken should be a free-range bird raised in the mountains, with firm flesh and satisfying chew. Rather than being cut into chunks, it is torn into fine shreds so that every strand can absorb the dressing. Lemon acidity, the heat of bird’s-eye chili, and the layered fragrance of Jingpo spices mingle with the chicken’s savoriness, creating a refreshing sour-spicy flavor that grows more aromatic with every bite and cuts cleanly through richness.

Jingpo Ghost Chicken carries several layers of meaning. First, “the chicken offered to the spirits.” The dish arose from the sharing of ritual offerings after sacrifices, preserving in taste the passage from “honoring the divine” to “delighting people.” Second, “the flavor of the mountains.” Bird’s-eye chili, cilantro, lemon, and rock ginger all come from the mountain environment, making Ghost Chicken a vivid expression of the Jingpo philosophy of “taking from nature.” Third, “a formidable name, an unforgettable taste.” Its name may sound fearsome, yet its bright, sour-spicy flavor is irresistibly appetizing.

• Category: Rice-noodle staple
• Popular Areas: Longchuan County, Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Rice noodles, fire-roasted pork, secret seasoning sauce, sour broth
• Also Known As: Jingpo Guoshou Rice Noodles, Longchuan Rice Noodles

Guoshou Rice Noodles are, for the people of Longchuan, “a flavor written into their DNA.” They are also one of the defining festival snacks of the Munao Zongge grounds, so ubiquitous that almost everyone seems to be holding a bowl. This is one of the most distinctive Jingpo ways of eating rice noodles, and its defining feature lies in the term guoshou—the authentic way is to eat them with the hands.

The custom is closely tied to the mountain labor of Jingpo ancestors. Out in the hills, without bowls or chopsticks, eating by hand was the most practical option. Rice noodles, roasted meat, and sauces were gathered directly in the hand and eaten together, gradually giving rise to the distinctive practice now known as Guoshou Rice Noodles.

Guoshou Rice Noodles depend on the balance of ingredients and the preparation of the sauce. The rice noodles are cool and pleasantly springy; the fire-roasted pork is charred on the outside and tender within; and the whole is paired with a fragrant sour sauce. Eating it with the hands is considered essential to the authentic experience. The bright sourness and heat stimulate the appetite and become increasingly compelling with every bite. After hours of dancing, a bowl can feel like an instant restoration of energy.

The soul of the dish lies in the ritual of guoshou itself. Chopsticks are set aside. Rice noodles and accompaniments are gathered by hand, mixed together in the palm, and then brought to the mouth. This hand-eating practice carries the Jingpo philosophy of “taking from nature and returning to nature” to its most immediate form.

Guoshou Rice Noodles embody the unadorned beauty of Jingpo food culture. First, “the warmth of the hand.” Eating directly with the hands recalls one of the earliest forms of dining practiced by Jingpo ancestors and pays tribute to their way of life. Second, “the taste of the mountains.” Rice noodles, fire-roasted pork, and secret sauces all arise from the gifts of the surrounding highlands. Third, “the memory of the festival.” At the Munao Zongge grounds, the sight of people everywhere eating Guoshou Rice Noodles is one of the festival’s most vivid culinary memories.

• Category: Barbecue
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Whole pig, toasted chili, Burmese coriander, spices
• Also Known As: Fire-Roasted Pig, Jingpo Whole Roasted Pig

Jingpo Fire-Roasted Pig is one of the most ceremonial and substantial dishes of the Munao Zongge Festival. Roasted and sliced on the spot, it captures the fragrance of the meat over glowing charcoal. The skin turns golden and crisp, while the meat remains tender and juicy. Dipped in toasted chili and Burmese coriander, each bite releases a rich rush of roasted fat and spice. Fire-Roasted Pig is indispensable at major Jingpo celebrations such as Munao Zongge. The Yingjiang version is particularly renowned and has itself become one of the attractions drawing visitors to the festival.

Its preparation is closely linked to the hunting and celebratory traditions of Jingpo ancestors. At major festivals, slaughtering and roasting a whole pig served simultaneously as an offering to deities, a remembrance of ancestors, and a celebration of the harvest. The “fire” of Fire-Roasted Pig also belongs to the same symbolic lineage as the solar worship associated with the Munao Zongge Festival: fire is understood as an earthly embodiment of the sun, and food prepared through fire becomes an expression of reverence for the sun deity.

A whole pig is slowly roasted over charcoal. It is carved and eaten as it cooks, while the charcoal seals in the aroma of the meat. The pig is continuously turned so that the skin becomes golden and crisp while the flesh remains tender and succulent. It is served with toasted chili, Burmese coriander, and other seasonings. With its crackling skin and rich aroma, Jingpo Fire-Roasted Pig is among the most visually dramatic and intensely flavored dishes of the Munao Zongge Festival.

Jingpo Fire-Roasted Pig carries several cultural meanings. First, “reverence for fire.” Prepared directly over flame, the dish echoes the solar worship from which Munao Zongge is said to have originated and turns the power of fire into an immediate culinary experience. Second, “the great festival dish.” Few dishes carry more ceremonial presence at Munao Zongge; it is an undisputed centerpiece of the festive table. Third, “roasted and eaten on the spot.” Slicing the pig fresh from the fire and eating it hot reflects the bold, resolute character traditionally associated with the Jingpo people.

• Category: Cold-mixed / pounded dishes
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Dried beef, eel, loach, bitter fruits, water chestnut greens, bird’s-eye chili, fish mint, tree tomato, litsea, and others
• Also Known As: Jingpo pounded dishes, chongchongcai

Pounded dishes are among the most distinctive foods of the Jingpo people and lie at the heart of Jingpo culinary culture. As the familiar saying goes, “舂筒不响，吃饭不香”. Almost anything from the plant or animal world can be made into a pounded dish. In Jingpo cooking, vegetables, seasonings, meats, and other ingredients are placed in a pounding vessel and worked with a wooden pestle until they become intensely flavored dishes—salty, spicy, refreshing, and highly appetizing.

Their origins are closely connected with life in the mountains. In an age without elaborate cooking vessels, bamboo tubes and stone mortars were among the easiest tools to obtain. Jingpo ancestors discovered that pounding could thoroughly combine ingredients and aromatics, releasing complex flavors that ordinary cooking methods did not always produce. This wisdom of “pounding in place of cooking” became a distinctive culinary practice created through long coexistence with the natural environment.

The method is remarkably distinctive. More than forty fresh ingredients may be brought together in the pounding vessel, including bird’s-eye chili, fish mint, tree tomato, bitter fruits, coriander-like herbs, litsea, and others. With “pounding” as the central act, the ingredients collide and merge into a concentrated feast of aroma and flavor. Jingpo seasonings deepen the effect: heat leads into fragrance, fragrance into faint bitterness, bitterness into sweetness, and the layers continue to unfold. Dried beef, eel, loach, bitter fruits, and water chestnut greens are among the ingredients most frequently used.

The soul of the dish lies precisely in the pounding. A few firm strokes in a bamboo tube or stone mortar can release an extraordinary rush of fragrance. Bright, sour, spicy, and intensely fresh, these dishes are especially appealing to those who enjoy bold flavors. The saying “万物皆可舂”—everything can be pounded—captures the essence of this Jingpo tradition. Meat, vegetables, river fish, wild greens: almost nothing is excluded.

Pounded dishes offer one of the clearest philosophical expressions of Jingpo food culture. First, “舂筒不响，吃饭不香”. The act of pounding is itself a ritual. The sound of the pounding vessel becomes an anticipation of food and, more deeply, an expression of enthusiasm for life. Second, “万物皆可舂”. From mountain delicacies to river fish, from wild greens to spices, Jingpo ancestors drew nature’s gifts into the pounding vessel with remarkable openness, embodying the broad spirit of “taking from nature.” Third, “flavors layered upon flavors.” Spicy yet fragrant, fragrant yet faintly bitter, bitter yet ending in sweetness—the progression of taste resembles Jingpo history itself: the bitterness of migration, the sweetness of settlement, and the mellow depth of culture, each unfolding one after another on the palate.

• Category: Grain staple
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Glutinous rice, fresh bamboo tubes, mountain spring water
• Also Known As: Bamboo-tube steamed rice, bamboo-tube roasted rice

Bamboo-Tube Rice is one of the most distinctive Jingpo staple foods and an indispensable part of the Munao Zongge Green-Leaf Banquet. The rice itself is prepared with particular care. It is not cooked in an electric rice cooker or steamer, but roasted inside bamboo tubes. The finished rice carries the clean fragrance of bamboo. Bamboo branches are also used to decorate ritual platforms; bamboo tubes hold rice wine; bamboo leaves are boiled in water as a cooling drink; and Bamboo-Tube Rice itself is a festive delicacy. The Munao Shidong—the ritual pillars of Munao Zongge—are themselves constructed from tall dragon bamboo, giving bamboo a sacred place in Jingpo culture.

The origins of Bamboo-Tube Rice are closely tied to the forested mountain life of Jingpo ancestors. In the open country, when metal pots were unavailable, bamboo was one of the most accessible natural cooking vessels. Glutinous rice could be placed inside a bamboo tube and roasted, allowing the clean fragrance of bamboo to mingle with the gentle sweetness of the rice. In this way, Bamboo-Tube Rice emerged as a distinctive food. Its bamboo shares the same material—dragon bamboo—with the sacred Munao Shidong, so the fragrance of the rice becomes, in taste, an echo of the festival’s sacred space.

The method is strikingly simple. Fresh bamboo tubes are filled with glutinous rice and an appropriate amount of mountain spring water. The opening is sealed, and the bamboo is slowly roasted over charcoal or steamed. As it heats, the bamboo releases its natural fragrance into the rice. Once cooked, the tube is opened and the rice emerges carrying a clear bamboo aroma. A mouthful of rice followed by a bite of accompanying food offers more than nourishment: it becomes a taste of Jingpo culture itself and of what the people regard as one of nature’s finest gifts.

Bamboo-Tube Rice embodies the ecological wisdom of Jingpo food culture. First, “taking from nature.” Bamboo serves as cooking vessel, tableware, and food container, reflecting the Jingpo ecological outlook of “taking from nature while honoring nature.” Second, “bamboo fragrance entering the soul.” The aroma of Bamboo-Tube Rice is not merely a sensory pleasure; it is also a flavor-memory of life in the Jingpo mountains and forests. Third, “the taste of celebration.” As a staple of the Green-Leaf Banquet, Bamboo-Tube Rice joins the spectacle of tens of thousands dancing together to form a complete memory of Munao Zongge.

• Category: Congee / porridge
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Free-range chicken, rice, Jingpo spices
• Also Known As: Chicken porridge, Jingpo chicken congee

Chicken congee is one of the traditional foods of the Jingpo Munao Zongge Festival and an important staple at the Green-Leaf Banquet. Jingpo dishes can broadly be divided into pounded, roasted, boiled, chopped, fried, preserved, and cold-mixed preparations; chicken congee belongs to the “boiled” category. During the festival, Jingpo communities in nearby villages prepare a wide range of foods, and chicken congee is one of the dishes not to be missed.

Its origins are closely connected with the practical culinary wisdom of Jingpo ancestors. In an age without elaborate seasonings, a chicken, a pot of rice, and a ladle of water could be simmered slowly into a nourishing and deeply savory meal. The freshness of chicken and the soft richness of rice porridge meld into one, expressing a Jingpo philosophy of making full use of what is available.

Chicken congee is made by simmering free-range chicken together with rice. At a Green-Leaf Banquet, rice is not limited to ordinary steamed rice; staples include Bamboo-Tube Rice and chicken congee made with fresh chicken broth. The broth forms the foundation, while the rice is simmered until the grains bloom open, the chicken becomes tender enough to fall from the bone, and the liquid grows thick and mellow. In each spoonful, the savoriness of the chicken, the soft glutinous character of the rice, and the fragrance of Jingpo spices meet on the palate.

Chicken congee carries the meaning of “the warmth of home.” It needs neither elaborate seasoning nor refined presentation, yet it remains one of the most comforting presences on the Jingpo festival table. Amid the revelry of tens of thousands at Munao Zongge, a bowl of chicken congee offers perhaps the gentlest answer to fatigue.

• Category: Fermented alcoholic drink
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Glutinous rice, mountain spring water, fermentation starter
• Also Known As: Jingpo Water Wine, glutinous-rice water wine

Jingpo Water Wine is one of the people’s most distinctive traditional alcoholic drinks and is indispensable during the Munao Zongge Festival. Serving rice wine in bamboo tubes is a long-standing Jingpo festive custom. Water wine placed in the traditional gift basket carries deep friendship and good wishes. As one description states: “景颇礼篮里面要装有水酒、米酒、竹筒菜、糯米饭、鸡蛋、鸡肉等食物”. During the festival, villages nearby prepare many traditional foods, and Water Wine is one of the drinks considered especially worth tasting.

Its brewing tradition is closely connected with Jingpo rice cultivation. Rice forms the staple of the Jingpo diet, and glutinous rice provides the basis for brewing. Jingpo ancestors discovered that fermentation could transform glutinous rice into a sweet alcoholic liquid and gradually developed their own methods of making Water Wine. The drink occupies a special position in Jingpo culture: it may be an offering in ritual, a fine drink for honored guests, or a medium through which people come together during festivals.

Jingpo Water Wine carries the meaning of “conveying affection through wine.” First, “wine for honoring the divine.” Water Wine is an important offering in Jingpo ritual practice. Second, “wine for guests.” Placed in gift baskets exchanged between villages, it forms an indispensable part of offering blessings and expressing friendship. Third, “wine of celebration.” Amid the mass revelry of Munao Zongge, Water Wine becomes both a catalyst for joy and a medium through which human feeling flows more freely.

• Category: Roasted / leaf-wrapped dish
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Fish, chicken, pork, wild vegetables, lemongrass, Jingpo spices, banana leaves
• Also Known As: Green-leaf wrapped roast, banana-leaf roast

Jingpo leaf-wrapped roasting is one of the people’s most distinctive cooking methods and an indispensable part of the Green-Leaf Banquet. “无叶不包”—if there are leaves, something is wrapped—is one of the three defining principles of Jingpo cooking. Meat and seasonal vegetables are enclosed together in green leaves, preserving within the parcel the full freshness of nature and releasing a powerful fragrance when opened. Jingpo cooking broadly includes pounding, roasting, boiling, chopping, frying, preserving, and cold mixing; leaf-wrapped roasting belongs to the family of roasted preparations.

Its origins are closely connected with outdoor cooking in the mountainous forests where Jingpo ancestors lived. In an age without pots, broad banana leaves and bamboo tubes were among the most accessible natural cooking vessels. Ingredients and spices were wrapped in banana leaves and placed in or near glowing charcoal. As the leaves heated, they released a clean vegetal fragrance that penetrated the food and gave rise to this distinctive method of cooking.

Banana leaves form the wrapping. Fish, chicken, pork, wild vegetables, lemongrass, Jingpo spices, and other ingredients are placed together inside the leaf, which is then folded tightly and slowly roasted over charcoal. As it heats, the banana leaf releases its natural fragrance into the food. When the parcel is finally opened, a wave of aroma rises immediately; beneath the richer scents of meat and spice remains a delicate freshness from the green leaf itself.

Jingpo leaf-wrapped roasting carries the idea of “preserving nature within the leaf.” First, “taking from nature.” The wrapping itself is a banana leaf and the ingredients come from the mountains and forests, embodying an ecological outlook rooted in the natural environment. Second, “sealing in freshness.” The banana leaf holds in the juices of the ingredients and the fragrance of the spices, preserving what nature has provided. Third, “returning to nature.” The act of opening the leaf becomes, in itself, a small ritual of return.

• Category: Grilled / dry-cured meat
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Beef, spices, salt
• Also Known As: Jingpo grilled dried beef, pounded dried beef

Grilled dried beef is one of the most representative Jingpo meat preparations and a popular feature of the Munao Zongge Green-Leaf Banquet. Among Jingpo dishes, grilled dried beef is aromatic with an undercurrent of heat, a flavor that becomes increasingly compelling as one eats. “Pounded dried beef” also appears among the characteristic foods of the Green-Leaf Banquet, and dried beef itself is one of the most common ingredients used in pounded dishes.

The making of dried beef is closely tied to the meat-preservation wisdom of Jingpo ancestors. Before refrigeration, every pastoral and agricultural people had to solve the problem of preserving meat for long periods without spoilage. Jingpo ancestors used salting and air-drying to turn beef into ganba, a dried meat that could be stored for months. Grilling and pounding became two ways of awakening the preserved meat again: grilling brings out a charred crispness and roasted aroma, while pounding distributes seasoning evenly through the meat.

Grilled dried beef carries “the flavor of time.” The meat requires days of curing and air-drying, embodying the wisdom of “exchanging time for flavor.” Aromatic, spicy, and increasingly fragrant as it is chewed, it reflects a Jingpo culinary philosophy in which patient work yields finer results.

• Category: Insects / specialty snacks
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Ingredients: Yellow ant eggs, cicadas, flower spiders, bamboo pupae
• Also Known As: Jingpo Insect Feast

The Jingpo have preserved a tradition of eating insects. Yellow ant eggs stir-fried with eggs, deep-fried cicadas, roasted flower spiders, bamboo pupae, and other preparations are considered fine foods for entertaining guests. Jingpo communities live in the mountainous areas of Dehong, Yunnan, where the forests hold rich insect resources. Through long coexistence with nature, Jingpo ancestors discovered that many insects were not only edible but also flavorful and nourishing. Insect cuisine is perhaps the most extreme expression of the Jingpo idea that “凡鸟兽鱼虫、花草果木无不在景颇人觅食之列”.

The Jingpo use of insects as food reflects both a thorough use of nature’s gifts and a deep sense of respect for them. Reverence for the natural world has long been woven into Jingpo culture. Ant eggs, cicadas, bamboo pupae, and other insects are regarded as among the most distinctive foods offered by the surrounding forests.

Insect foods provide a singular expression of Jingpo culinary culture. First, “taking from nature.” Forest insects are part of nature’s gifts, reflecting the openness of a food philosophy in which birds, beasts, fish, and insects may all become sources of nourishment. Second, “a delicacy for honored guests.” Insects are not treated as ordinary fare, but as prized foods suitable for hospitality. Third, “food for the brave.” Eating insects requires considerable courage and trust in the quality of the ingredient, making it a culinary reflection of the bold and resolute character associated with the Jingpo people.

• Category: Assorted ceremonial gift
• Popular Areas: Jingpo-inhabited areas of Dehong, Yunnan
• Main Contents: Water wine, rice wine, bamboo-tube dishes, glutinous rice, eggs, chicken, and others
• Also Known As: Jingpo Gift Basket, congratulatory gift basket

The Jingpo Gift Basket is perhaps the most human and affectionate culinary form associated with the Munao Zongge Festival. According to traditional etiquette, guests arrive carrying carefully prepared gift baskets to celebrate together. Water wine, eggs, and glutinous rice may appear simple, yet they bear deep ethnic bonds and sincere blessings. As one Jingpo explanation puts it: “景颇礼篮里面要装有水酒、米酒、竹筒菜、糯米饭、鸡蛋、鸡肉等食物，我们景颇族的礼篮就是大家互相祝福，祝愿目瑙纵歌节能圆满完成，开心快乐”.

The custom is closely connected with Jingpo traditions of warm hospitality and simple, sincere social relations. At Munao Zongge, where tens of thousands may gather, villages and clans exchange gift baskets to offer blessings, convey friendship, and reinforce communal ties. Congratulatory groups bring baskets as expressions of celebration, and the receiving side returns a basket in thanks. This reciprocal exchange gives vivid form to the Jingpo virtue of courtesy answered with courtesy.

The Jingpo Gift Basket carries some of the central values of festival culture. First, “the feeling of blessing.” The basket serves as a vessel through which people offer one another good wishes. Second, “the weight of friendship.” Water wine, eggs, and glutinous rice may be humble foods, but they carry profound human ties. Third, “a heart of gratitude.” One group offers a basket in congratulations and the other returns one in thanks; this reciprocal gesture turns gratitude itself into something that can be tasted and shared.