Ethnic Minorities
New Rice Festival (新米节)
The New Rice Festival for the Va people is celebrated in the middle of the eighth lunar month. The Va people call themselves A Va, which means ‘people of the mountains.’ Autumn is the busiest season for the Va and the New Rice Festival is their favourite.
Starting with the bringing home of freshly-picked corn, which is then ground into rice and cooked, seven bowls are then filled with the mixture and a piece of meat is placed on top. Along with seven bowls of wine, these are served up to the gods of Heaven, Earth, Mountain and corn, as well as their ancestors; seven incenses are then burned before an old man of the village begins to pray. Elderly people and children are then offered the ‘new rice’ which has been cleansed by the gods and they become cleansed in turn. This ritual is symbolic of the respect the Va people have for gods and the elderly and the love they have for children.
Tibetan New Year (藏历年)
On the first day of the Tibetan calendar is the Tibetan New Year, the most important Tibetan festival. Preparations begin in the twelfth month, including preparing food and a Five-Cereal Container – highland barley mixed with butter goes into this colourful wooden box, on top of which sit butter flowers and shoots of highland barley. This ensures a good harvest and a good life for the next year. New shoots are also grown from highland barley seeds which are placed in a bowl of water so they’re growing in time for the New Year. A fried wheat dough and butter mixture is made into various shapes for visitors and also for use as religious offerings.
Longduan Street Festival (陇端节)
This festival for the Zhuang people is held during the third lunar month and is popular among the Zhuang people who live in the Guangnan and Funing areas of Yunnan province. This festival attracts thousands of visitors, even though the ‘street’ is actually a field dam; during the festival, which lasts between three and five days, people gather in large fields and it is a time for young people to look for lovers. Trading, singing and dancing are also on the agenda.
A traditional Zhuang opera is performed in a makeshift theatre, attracting lots of people because of the noise of the gongs, drums and firecrackers. Looks and talent are the criteria for choosing a man and woman of the year among the young people. When a young man sees a woman he likes, he will sing a question at her; if she likes him, too, she will sing back at him and the singing conversation will then continue until dawn. Women give food and cloth shoes in return for men’s gifts of make-up, money or jewellery.