Festivals

This one-day festival, also known as tomb sweeping day, is followed by two further days of holiday and is devoted to paying respects to ancestors. Throughout China, people clean the tombs of their relatives and make symbolic offerings. Families also take spring outings to enjoy nature and fly kites, which they release for good luck.

This joyful popular three-day celebration is the most important festival of the Dai people. There is a carnival parade and a free-for-all water fight, food and craft markets and dragon boat races. People listen to scriptures and build Buddha statues at the temple; these are then splashed with water in a cleansing ritual.

This three-day festival is a chance for the Miao people to experience love and courtship. Young women dress in elaborate clothes and jewelry, and young men woo them with parcels of rice. If they receive two chopsticks in return, they may court the lady. There is Lusheng dancing and music, as well as bullfights within the festivities.

At this one-day festival, the various peoples of Guangxi province get together to celebrate love. Lovers give each other letters and gifts, and express their feeling through dancing and singing. The Li people hold open air parties in colorful dress with traditional food, competitions and music with a big bonfire in the evening.

On this one-day festival, the people from tribes all around Guangxi province come together, wearing their best traditional clothes, all in red. There are games and competitions including beauty parades, folk drumming, sports and tug-of-war. Young men and women try to find love and there is folk music and dancing.

This is a popular four-day festival celebrated by the Miao ethnic minority of Guizhou. The Lusheng reed pipe dates back to the Tang dynasty and, as a symbol of Miao history, is played throughout the festival at ceremonies and performances of traditional dances. There are horse races on the third day and bullfighting on the fourth.