The main food in Yi people's life is corn in most areas, followed by buckwheat, rice, potatoes, wheat and oats. Meat mainly includes beef, pork, mutton and chicken. They like to be cut into big pieces (fist size) for cooking, which the Han people call "tuorou". Liangshan and most Yi people do not eat dog meat and do not eat horse meat, frogs and snakes. Yi people like to eat hot and sour, and they are addicted to alcohol, so they have the etiquette of entertaining guests with wine. Wine is essential for solving various disputes, making friends, weddings, funerals and other occasions.
The housing structure of the Yi people is the same as that of the surrounding Han people in some areas, and the houses of the Yi people in Liangshan mostly use slate roofs and earth walls. There are houses in the shape of "Gan Lan" in the Yi nationality areas in Guangxi and eastern Yunnan.
Patriarchal family system prevails in Yi people all over the country, and young children often live with their parents. Women's status is low. The inheritance is divided equally among scholars, and unique businesses are generally owned by close relatives. Father and son names prevailed in the history of Yi people, and this custom continued in Liangshan Yi people until the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC). Monogamy is the basic marriage system of Yi people. Marrying a daughter-in-law requires a higher bride price, and the more table marriage becomes more popular, the husband dies and transfers ownership. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, some Yi areas in Yunnan still maintained the public housing system, and Liangshan Yi people maintained a strict hierarchical internal marriage. In history, most Yi people practiced cremation. Before the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC), the residents of Liangshan and Yunnan along the Jinsha River still had this burial custom. Other areas have gradually changed to burial since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.