Tongren Festivals and Events

Tongren is home to a large number of ethnic minorities, there are 29 ethnic groups including Tujia, Han, Miao, Dong, Gelao and Manchu. There are colorful ethnic festivals and activities in Tongren, such as "Si Yue Ba(the Eighth of the Fourth Lunar Month Festival)" of Miao, "Guo Gan Nian(过赶年)" of Tujia, "Gan Ao Festival(赶坳节)" of Dong, "Dear Condor Day(敬雀节)" and "Mao Long Festival(毛龙节)" of Gelao, etc.

Festivals in Tongren

Main Chinese traditional festivals include New Year's Day(January 1), Spring Festival(The first day of the first lunar month; February 5, 2019), Lantern Festival(The fifteenth day of the first lunar month), Tomb Sweeping Day(15 days after the Spring equinox; April 5, 2019), Dragon Boat Festival(The fifth day of the fifth lunar month; June 7, 2019) and Mid-Autumn Day(The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month; September 13, 2019).

Si Yue Ba(四月八) of Miao Minority

Si Yue Ba(the eighth day of the fourth lunar month) is the traditional festival of Han(Hakka), Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Zhuang, Yi, Tujia and Gelao in Gansu, Guizhou, Guangxi, western Hunnan, North Guangxi and Guangdong. The content of festival varies from place to place and is mainly related to agriculture. On this day, people will hold various celebrations to express the joy of harvest and promote the cultural exchanges between ethnic groups. The festival originated from the Miao ethnic group's sacrificial activities, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, ancestors, heroes and gods. With the changes of The Times, festival activities gradually add singing and dancing performances and human exchanges, the content is more colorful.

Guo Gan Nian(过赶年) of Tujia Minority

The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is the Gan Nian(赶年) festival in Yinjiang county. On this day, the local Tujia people will dress in festival costumes, in accordance with traditional customs, making Ciba, grinding bean curd, dancing hand-shaking dance, performing stunts, eating long-table banquet, singing and dancing, to celebrate the Gan Nian happily. 

Gan Ao Festival(赶坳节) of Dong Minority

Gan Ao festival is a dong festival in Yuping autonomous county and other Dong' resident areas. Dong culture has a long history. "Gan Ao" is one of the grandest traditional customs and cultural activities of Dong people in Yuping, commonly known as "Gan Ao festival". Gan Ao festival has three times a year, Yuping's Dong people mainly celebrate on June 19th. Festival activities are often held in the scenic spacious lawn or col, so called "Gan Ao Fesival". "Ao" means col in English. The activities include singing in antiphonal style, thrush fighting, horse racing and so on. "Gan Ao" is a traditional custom of Yuping's Dong people. It is a form of entertainment and social activities for young people of Dong people to make friends, to fall in love. 

Dear Condor Day/Jingque Festival(敬雀节) of Gelao Minority

Jingque festival of Gelao is a folk activity passed down from generation to generation of the Gelao minority in Yaoshan Village of Pingshan Township, Shiqian county. The activity time is the first day of the second lunar month every year. When in the year of rooster, the Gelao villagers at Yaoshang village(尧上村) will start the sacrificial activities in the ancestral hall and the open air place. According to the villager, as early as the Tang dynasty, Gelao ancestors held the sacrifices to condor and ancestors, and this activity was passed from generation to generation. Today, from the content of activities, Jingque festival has become a grand ethnic festival activity integrating Nuotang Opera, puppet show and other performances. 

Activities in Tongren

Festival lantern, Nuo opera, calligraphy, flute, folk song, Kunlong, dragon boat race, puppet, talking spring(Shuo Chun) and other intangible cultures, declared 1 world intangible cultural heritage preliminary list, 7 national level intangible cultural heritages, 41 provincial level intangible cultural heritages; It is honored with 8 "towns of Chinese folk culture and art", 9 "towns of Guizhou folk culture and art". Nuo opera which is praised as the "living fossil" of drama, Miao drum with primitive simplicity charm, hand-shaking dance of Tujia, the dong's big song and the breathtaking Miao stunts, all of these are the ethnic culture treasure.

Shiqian Talking Spring(说春)

Shiqian talking spring(说春) was listed in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Talking spring began in the Tang dynasty and it is a comprehensive folk activity handed down from generation to generation in Shiqian. The form of "talking spring" is flexible, the content is rich and diverse, the wording is elaborate, it is intended to promote agriculture, simultaneously, to send the blessings of good harvest and good weather for common people.