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Lusheng Festivals and Tiaohua Festival

Lusheng is so prevailed in Miao community in many aspects that they spend Lusheng festival across the province. Having busied with farming over the last year, villagers, temporarily escaped from burdens, wholly dedicate to the celebration for this festival. Stunning costumes with layers of silver lead quiet villages to be vivid and colorful through history seems stopped for them for years. People dance in circle all day long trying to show their vivid life and to be focused on.

Lusheng festival

There are many activities between autumn and next spring. Similarly to Han people, it covers offering sacrifice to ancestor, celebrating good harvest, having social party and courtship and bull fight.

There are many names for such festival, such as Tiaohua(Dance Flower).

Miao in the west and middle of Guizhou, calling themselves Hmong, name it Tiaohua. In some other place, it is called Tiaoyue. During the Dance Flower festival, courtship is particularly stressed on in that Tiaohua means to make friends through dancing and singing.

Called Lusheng Meeting in the southeast by Miao calling themselves Mu, this festival is fashion the areas: Leigong, Yueliang mountains and basins of Qingshui river.

Sasui Festival

The legend tells that a very reputed chief, Sasui, led her people to fight in order to stick up for the interests and died later in war. People think highly of her and regard her as the virago of Dong society and the god to protect them. Almost in every village in the south-east, there must be one memorial temple for Sasui. Actually, Worshiping foremother, as story goes, can be traced back to primitive time and is relics of enatic system.

Dong people offer sacrifice to Sasui during the first month of lunar calendar, the same period of Chinese Spring Festival. Activities around drum tower include: Lusheng unison, chorus of tens of persons, Taiguanren which is similar to Dionysian in West, and Dong opera as well.In Dong area:

Feb. 19 Arrive Guiyang. Stay at Guiyang.

Feb. 20 Guiyang–Liping–Zhaoxing.

zhaoxing-village

Plane to Liping, the capital of Dong ethnic. Then go to Zhaoxing village, like a gem in the mountain. The village is filled by the beautiful Dong ethnic style wood house, roofed bridge and drum tower and looks like in the fairytale. Stay at Zhaoxing.

Feb. 21 Zhaoxing

Enjoy and experience Sasui festival in Zhao Xing and Ji Tang, appreciate Dongopera. Sasui is Dong people’s foremother and regarded as the god offering protection to

them. A legend tells she, as the chief, died of fight for interests of her tribe ever since

became the hero and symbol of Dong’s spirit. Stay at Zhaoxing.

Feb. 22 Zhaoxing–Congjiang

Visit of the village of Yingtan (Dong minority), where can be seen the brown indigo shining
cloth, also called beaten cloth.

yintan dong village

Discover Basha Miao village, Basha has been in such view for hundreds of years that very one is in indigo garment every day and every man, always holding a gun or knife, has the hairstyle of ancient warrior. Stay at Congjiang.

Miao area :

Feb. 23 Congjiang–Kaili

Visit Short Skirt Miao and Long Skirt Miao in villages. On the way admire fantastic nature beauty of Lei Gong mountain. And discovery of Miao’s architecture and costumes with marvelous embroidery. Stay at Kaili.

short-skirt-miao