Huashan Festival(花山节/踩花山) of Miao Ethnic Group

The Miao ethnic group of Pingbian County, Honghe Yi and Hani Autonomous Prefecture, staged Huashan Festival to celebrate the Spring Festival during 25-27 January.

As the grandest annual event of the Miao ethnic minority, Huashan Festival is where people get attired and gather for bull fighting, singing love songs in an antiphonal way, and climbing the Flower Pole etc. 

A trunk of pine or cypress will be decorated with flowers and flags by the Miao to mark the beginning of the festival. And it will be erected in the center of the ground before sunrise. After that, people beat gongs, sound drums and fire fireworks to celebrate the festival. A series of activities, including singing performance, lion dance (a kind of folk dance) and bullfight will be presented. Moreover, the festival also provides a good platform for young men and women to show their affection to each other. Usually, men will present waistcloth to their beloved. In return, girls give embroidered handkerchiefs as gifts. 

People from the Miao ethnic group celebrated Huashan Festival in Luquan county, Kunming city, Yunnan province on June 20. The festival showcased an array of dances, bull fights, delicacies and traditional costumes.

More than 40,000 Miao people descended on the county's cultural square early to watch dance performances and hear songs from different ethnic groups.

Local dishes were served for lunch at the leisure center, allowing people to enjoy mutton soup, black-bone chicken and other special farm-oriented dishes.

Stealing the show and attracting the crowds was an elderly Miao lady who performed flax weaving, allowing visitors to get an intimate look at the intangible cultural heritages of the Miao ethnic group.

A number of bull fights were held in the afternoon. In keeping with the Miao people's belief that the more fierce the fight, the greater the harvest will be, the owners of the bulls tried their best to frustrate their bulls.

Huashan Festival literally means "gathering on mountains" and is over 2,000 years old. On the day of the festival, it is tradition for Miao people to pray for favorable weather and family prosperity. It is also a time for young men and women to look for a potential partner.