100-Family Meals of Dai Village

100 Families eat together. The village of Dai is actually a big family--a condition that is especially evident during the 100-family meal. During important festivals, every family in Lujiang and Nanhu will contribute one or two dishes for a huge banquet. Under the big, old banyan tree, a long table is loaded with all kinds of Dai dishes where villagers gather to enjoy the meal. T...

The Tujia Ethnic Group Cry Marriage

Ten girls include the bride in the middle are crying on the eve of wedding day. Crying marriage is a matrimonial custom that must be observed by every Tujia girl, whether she is satisfied with the bridegroom or not. Some brides begin to cry as early as two months ahead of the marriage, while others cry for at least ten days or half a month beforehand. First, the ...

Some Local Areas See Chinese Traditional Wedding

Long long ago when it was in Feudal society, young Chinese people held traditional wedding. It usually involved 6 necessary procedures, namely: match-making, engagement, betrothal presents, meeting the bride,three bows, and drinking wedlock wine. For example, the bride wore red costume with embroidery like phoenix on it. She sit in a sedan which was often carried by four men. The bridegroom rode...

Ox Lanterns Made to Celebrate Coming Lunar New Year

Before the arrival of China's traditional lunar New Year, people in some parts of China are accustomed to make lanterns in observation of the coming lunar New Year. This time as the Ox lunar New Year is around the corner, people in certain local areas are busy with making ox lanterns. Women are making ox lanterns to embrace the lunar year of ox in Kuisan village, located in Shandong ...

Eating Laba Porridge on 8th Day of 12th Lunar Month

The majority of Han nationality have long followed the tradition of eating laba porridge on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, referring to the traditional start of preparation for Spring Festival. It is also a Buddhist festival on which date Sakyamuni, the first Buddha and founder of the religion, was believed to have attained enlightenment and became Buddha. There are various...

Chinese Spring Festival

In China, there are many famous festivals, such as Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Day and etc. Today i will introduce the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest t...

Winter Solstice

As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 22 or 23 according to the Gregorian calendar. The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and lon...

Group wedding of traditional Chinese style

Eleven couples attended the group wedding on Sunday. The newly-weds tour on boats during a group wedding of traditional Chinese style in the Shajiabang Scenic Spot in Changshu, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 16, 2008. Eleven couples attended the group wedding on Sunday. The newly-weds plant trees during a group wedding of traditional Chinese style in the Sha...

Folk dance contest of Miao minority in SW China

A girl wearing traditional costume competes in the folk dance contest held in Leishan County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Nov. 11, 2008. The folk dance contest of Miao ethnic group kicked off in Leishan County on Tuesday, attracting over 200 villagers of seven teams. Local villagers perform in the folk dance contest held in Leishan County, southwest China'...

Ping village: Display unique ethnic artistry

Ping village, Guizhou province in southwestern China, is a reclusive land in the mountains and crammed with people of color, verve and ethnic artistry. The craggy topography surrounding Guizhou's provincial capital has, literally, been shaped by the local maxim: "Ren duo, di shao (Many people, little land)." Nearly every inch of hillside around Guiyang that could be terraced has been sculpte...