Some Lisu men do sword climbing or "shang daoshan" ("ascending the sword mountain"). Barefoot and barehanded, they compete to climb up ladders made of knives attached to bamboo poles. They perform acrobatics on these.

Lisu clans are patrilineal — the name following the male line. The six main clans have interesting names. These are roughly translated into English as: Bear, Buckwheat, Fish, Hemp, Honey and Wood.

The Lisu people (Lisu: ꓡꓲ‐ꓢꓴ ꓫꓵꓽ; Burmese: လီဆူလူမျိုး, [lìsʰù]; Chinese: 傈僳 族; pinyin: Lìsùzú; Thai: ลีสู่) are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who inhabit mountainous regions of Myanmar (Burma), southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Lisu men often compete in crossbow shooting and exchange crossbows with each other to enhance their friendships. Lusu’s fire pit is the center of family activities. It is also a sacred place.

Lisu are the 21st largest ethnic group and the 20th largest minority out of 55 in China. They numbered 702,839 in 2010 and made up 0.05 percent of the total population of China in 2010 according to the 2010 Chinese census.

In the past, Lisu men would wear black, yellow, blue and red turbans made of silk on their heads. These days these turbans are almost impossible to come by. They are made of white towel-like cloth sewn over cardboard or foam (for shape) and then wrapped around the head.

The Lisu people mainly engage in agriculture and the chief products are maize, paddy and buckwheat. Hunting also plays an important role in their life and the man who wins in a toxophily match will be greatly respected by the people.

The Lisu people are one of the ancient nationalities and one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Lisu people originate from the migration of gooch Qiang people and belong to a clan source with Yi people.

Here we present a collection of the Lisu's finest costumes - shot at a Lisu cultural festival in Weixi, attended not only by Yunnan Lisu, but also groups from Sichuan and Myanmar. Red: this - Blue: nearby

Lisu men like to wear a long gown or a short jacket made of flax and wide trousers that go beyond the knees. Some men wrap their head with a blue kerchief; some plait their hair and arrange the hair on the back of the head. Wealthy men wear a string of scarlet corals or agates as the earbob through the left earlap.