Festivals and Customs in Chongqing

Brief Introduction

For thousands of years, Chongqing has developed ways of celebrating the traditional festivals. People here would pay a New Year visit to their relatives and friends during the Spring Festival, enjoy the beautiful lanterns on January 15th according to the lunar calendar, worship ancestors during the Qingming Festival, and admire the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are also some other traditional customs such as stroll around the fairground, sit the bridal sedan chair and fly a kite. These traditions and customs don't sound very much different from those of the other parts of China. There are five Tujia and Miao autonomous counties in Chongqing, the two ethnic groups are characterized by their own passion and tradition and they have their own festivals. The ingenious Tujia people have tremendous talent in dancing. The Tujia people would have a big worship celebrating activity from January 3 to January 15 according to the lunar calendar. All the people would wear their festival costumes and dance in the warm and cheerful atmosphere. At that time you can only see the dancing crowd and hear the deafening sound of gongs and drums. The strong and brave Miao people particularly like singing. The annual "send away the autumn" is their traditional festival to sing. The young men and the young ladies could express their endearments through the singing.

The worship and the celebrating activities of the Tujia people

The Tujia people in Qianjiang County would have a big worship celebrating activity from January 3 to January 15 according to the lunar calendar, and they would do a hand-waving dance. The Tujia people would gather together and the scene is extraordinarily bustling. Both the male and female would in gala attire and come to join the big party. The front of the hand-waving temple would be decorated with lanterns and colored ribbons. The wizard would wear a phoenix crown, thin silk skirt and with a brass ring and a sword in his hands. The wizard is the one who commands the party with dance and stamp. After treble report of the cannon, the band would begin to play. Suddenly the sound of singing rang out; the people would hand in hand and dancing all through the night. "Thousands of lanterns hanging there, hundreds of people doing a hand-waving dance there." The hand-waving dance springs from the ancient Sichuan and Chongqing dance. The dance includes single-pendulum, compound pendulum and round pendulum. These movements were used to express etiquette, laboring scenes and fighting actions. The hand-waving dance has a lively rhythm and it is very grace. The aboriginal flavor will leave you a deep impression.

The "send away the autumn" of the Miao people

The Miao people are good at both singing and dancing; some of their songs are loud and sonorous while some of them are very sweet. They love singing so much that once they meeting they will sing for each other. They greeting, expressing their emotions and telling stories through singing. It seems that song is the shadow of the Miao people, and the matchmaker of the young men and young ladies for it helps to exchange their feelings. The song plays a vital role in the wedding. The hosts would sing a song for the guests to thanks their coming, the new couple would sing a song for their matchmaker to thanks her tie, and the guests would sing a song for the new couple to express their blessing. All the relatives and friends would hold a competence for singing, and this will last three days and nights.

The "send away the autumn" is an annual traditional festival for the Miao people. On the Autumn Begins Day according to the lunar calendar, all the Miao people would in gala attire and come to join the big party from all quarters of the fortress. You can only hear the singing and the deafening sound of gongs and drums. You can see people swinging, lion dancing, playing lanterns, singing competence and climbing ladders made of knives. In a word, the party is bustling with noise and excitement. The youngs would take the opportunity to look for their sweetheart and show their singing.

Besides, the Miao people have some other festivals, such as March 3, June 6, July 7, (all of the above festivals are according the lunar calendar) and Sheep Horse Festival.