The organizing committee for the upcoming Mojiang International Twins Festival — held May 1-2 — were pleased to introduce the double faces of their current advertising campaign. During the weekend press conference, the official promotional song for the two-day event was also unveiled, as local media inquired about preparations for the upcoming 'twin-undation'.

Held at the Telecom International Hotel , the conference room was big enough for more than 100 invited guests. Attendees mostly consisted of journalists and photographers from local newspapers and television stations. We were greeted by two friendly looking pairs of twins in traditional Hani clothing at the entrance and, after many smiles and greetings, one young lady handed us a hefty bag promotional literature before guiding us into the room. We were the first guests to arrive, choosing fourth row seats just behind those reserved for committee members, sponsors and other honored guests.

Scheduled for 2pm, the press conference started with a slight 30-minute delay. The wait provided us with enough time to work our way through the abundance of informational material found in our goody-bag. We learned that Mojiang is an autonomous county in the prefecture of Pu'er . Nestled among subtropical mountains somewhat near the Vietnamese border, it is known for producing high-quality tea products and for its year-round warm weather. Home to the Hani minority, Mojiang isn't commonly referred to as a tourism hotspot, except for once a year.

It isn't the local architecture or traditional dances that make it special. It is the region's exceptionally high percentage of twin births. Normally the chance of conceiving identical twins is slim — only about three out of 1,000. But with more then 1,500 identical twins and triplets, such births in Mojiang come around 25 percent more frequently then in the rest of the world. No one knows why this happens, and contributing factors such as inherited genes, the climate, and local well water have all been put forward as explanations.

The conference room filled up and conversations came to close as the press conference got underway. It began with an introduction of the winning twins from last years televised talent show, complete with a short display of the pair's winning ballet skills. Next, the official song for this year's festival was unveiled, sung live by a pair of twins from Mojiang. It immediately seemed to catch on, as some members of the committee, as well as a few journalists, started to hum along with the refrain.

Mojiang's yearly twin festival will include a lot of singing and dancing, plus celebrations of local Hani culture and everything twin-related in general. Identical twins from all over the world are invited to the festival to participate in these activities, which culminate in a huge talent show. It isn't always what most would consider a 'normal' talent, such as a dueling piano performance or singing, that takes first prize. A few years ago, a pair of Russian twins won the talent show for dancing provocatively while dressed in matching skintight catsuits.

The landscape and culture of southwestern Yunnan's Menglian Dai, Lahu and Va Autonomous County (孟连傣族拉祜族佤族自治县) very much resemble those of Xishuangbanna. Hills rise around alluvial plains and the major towns lie along rivers. The Dai minority nationality dominates the plains population — wet-rice cultivators who live in stilted houses and practice Theravada Buddhism. Other ethnic minorities, from the Tibeto-Burman and Mon-Khmer linguistic groups, inhabit the hills, growing dry rice, sugarcane or tea.

Menglian — the Chinese word for the original Dai Muang Lem — was never administratively part of Xishuangbanna, though. The southern part of Lancang Lahu Autonomous County (澜沧拉祜族自治县) separates Menglian from Xishuangbanna and even today travelers from the latter have to go to Lancang City first, then go southwest to Menglian.