Flowery Mountains Festival
Name: Flower), Mountains Festival for the Miao people
Date: between the second and seventh day of the first lunar month
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Lusheng dancing of the Miao ethnic group. | The Miao people living in Yunnan and some other places celebrate the festival, so known as the Festival of Treading the Flowery Mountains. During this annual festival, thousands of Miao people will go to the open hillsides among their villages and hold various festive activities.
The so-called "Flowery Pole" is always the mark of the festival. Usually, it is made from long, straight pine or cypress trees. Colorful flags and prizes for pole climbing like sweets and lusheng (a kind of reed pipe wind instrument) are hung about one meter lower from the top of the pole. The person who volunteers to set up the flowery pole before the first dawn of the festival will be widely recognized as a kind-hearted person. It is this person who takes responsibility to toast festival attendees and officially declare the beginning of the festival followed by the drum and gong beating and firecracker explosions.
At the time, the festive site, full of flowers and colorful flags, is just a sea of singing and dancing. Activities such as folk song singing, lusheng dancing, lion dancing and bull fighting are held one after another.
The festival offers a wonderful chance for young Miao people to find their sweethearts. Once falling in love, the young man will present his lover flowery embroidered puttees and waistbands as gifts, while the girls give out scarf and turbans they embroider themselves.
The Miao people in northeastern and southern Yunnan celebrate this festival on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. Legend has it that, in ancient times, the Miao people were distressed about their ancestors' suffering. Once on this date, their ancestors made an appearance and told them not to be too distressed. Instead, the ancestors said they should cheer up, dance and play lusheng. After that, suddenly a flower dropped to a tree on a hilltop from heaven. Then everyone danced around the tree, playing lusheng and singing songs. That year they had a bumper harvest.
Since then, they celebrate the festival on the date every year. Their celebration includes singing, lusheng dancing, bull fighting, lion dancing and the climbing of the flowery pole contest, in which the champion is awarded a pig head and fine wine. The winner of lion dancing will also be awarded a pig head and wine.
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