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Festivals
- Updated:
- Jul 23, 2009;
- by:
- China Highlights;
- Clicks:
- 40;
March Fair
Date:the tenth day of the third month to the twentieth-first day of the third month
Place: Dali Ancient Town
Also known as the Kwan-yin Fair, is one of the most important festivals. It is held annually at the foot of the Diancang Mountain in the west of Dali city. The fair lasts from the 15th to 20th in the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Of religious origin, it has become a commercial fair. During the March Fair, the streets at Dali town is compete with temporally stalls selling a mind-boggling variety of items，ethnic minority souvenirs.
Torch Festival
Date： On the 25th of the sixth lunar month
Place： Bai villages in Dali, such as Zhoucheng Bai village
On the 25th of the sixth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Bai celebrate the annual Torch Festival in a special way. They wear costumes and butcher pigs and sheep for a feast. Children dye their fingernails red with a kind of flower root. On the eve of the festival, people get everything ready for the big celebration. They set up a large torch about 20 meters high made of stalks and pine branches. On the top of the torch sits a large flag. Several small flags are fixed around the torch, printed with auspicious Chinese characters meaning peaceful land, favorable weather, bumper harvest, and abundant farm animals. Fruits, fireworks, and lanterns are hung around the torch.
Worship Gathering in the three temples
Time: 23rd to 25th of the fourth lunar month
Place: in Chongsheng Temple, the Shengyuan Temple, and the Jinkui Temple.
This activity is called Guanshanglan in the Bai language. It is a carnival for the Bai people to entertain themselves during the slack season for farming. It is also an occasion to welcome the coming of immortals from heaven, and occurs from the 23rd to the 25th of the fourth month, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. This event dates back to ancient times and was originally a religious ceremony. The three temples involved are the Chongsheng Temple, the Shengyuan Temple, and the Jinkui Temple.
On the first day, people from the villages gather at Dali City and march off to Shengyuan Temple to pray for favorable weather and a bumper harvest. On the second day, they walk together to Jinkui Temple to offer sacrifices to a famous historic king, Duan Zongpang. On the last day, they go to Chongsheng Temple to pray for happiness and peace. The procession disassembles at a village named Mayi.
Folk Song Singing Festival at Shibaoshan Mountain
This annual festival lasts a week, from the 27th of the seventh month to the third of the eighth month in the Chinese traditional calendar. During this period, thousands of young people assemble at the four temples in Shibaoshan Mountain to sing folk songs. The four temples are Shizhong Temple, Baoxiang Temple, Haiyun Temple, and Jinding Temple. People play musical instruments and sing love songs, even in front of the solemn statues of Buddha. This festival is to commemorate a legendary pretty girl who lived 2,000 years ago who sung very well. Today, young people use the festival as an occasion to make friends or to find lovers.
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