From August 1 to 9, the west bank of Dianchi Lake came alive as the main venue of the 2026 Dianchi International Coffee Culture Carnival welcomed visitors from across the region. Amid the aroma of coffee, live music, and the summer breeze drifting across the lake, the Nomadic Yunnan lifestyle project made its public debut.

Bringing together specialty coffee brands from around the world with a diverse range of outdoor experiences, the lakeside festival also marked the Yunnan debut of the IPFF International Packraft Film Festival. Officially introduced to China by MRS Paddling Academy, the special IPFF screening was jointly presented by Nomadic Yunnan and MRS Packrafts at the Nomadic Yunnan exhibition area on the west bank of Dianchi Lake.

Originating in Alaska, USA, IPFF was co-founded by veteran packraft explorers Jule Harle, Peter Biskind, Emily Baker, Justin Bickley, and Greg Stafford. It is the world’s only touring film festival dedicated exclusively to the packraft community. Each year, the festival selects dozens of original short films created by paddlers, photographers, and adventurers from around the world, bringing their stories to audiences through a global screening tour.

Since 2025, MRS Paddling Academy has served as IPFF’s official partner in mainland China, with Chengdu as its first destination. The festival’s arrival in Yunnan marks another important step in MRS’s efforts to expand the packraft culture and outdoor lifestyle across Southwest China.

This year’s film selection spans whitewater expeditions, journeys across alpine lakes, long-distance wilderness adventures, aquatic conservation, and stories of people and places along remote river valleys. As tales of the Alaskan wilderness unfolded on the shores of Dianchi Lake, film became a bridge between cultures of exploration, connecting distant landscapes and communities in a dialogue that crossed mountains, rivers, and seas with the nomadic cultures of the Yunnan highlands.

Throughout the event, MRS packrafts were showcased in real outdoor settings. Exceptionally lightweight and highly portable, yet built for dependable performance, they proved to be an ideal companion for exploring Yunnan’s diverse mountain and water landscapes.

The spirit of lightweight exploration embodied by packrafts echoes the message at the heart of the films: venture into the wild, travel light, and go farther. Carry less. Explore more. Go where the horizon opens wide.