Tiaohua Festival is a main festival of the Miao people in Anshun City in Guizhou Province, China. In 2008, it was included into the second group of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List. It is usually celebrated in the first lunar (农历的)month every year.
To decide the exact dates of the festival, organizers(组织者)have to think about many things, like lucky animal days ( e. g. the tiger and dragon are powerful, but snake and pig days need to be avoided at all costs) and lucky numbers (e. g. "8"means wealth but"4"meansdeath). Organizers also need to make sure the dates don't fall on the festival days of other communities (社区). In this way , people from nearby villages can take part in the festival.
Singing and dancing are the main activities of Tiaohua Festival. During the festival, the Miao people wear their traditional clothes and silver accessories (配饰). The most important part of the festival is the chance for young people to meet possible marriage partners——Men play a musical instrument and women dance to the music in the flower area. If a man plays well, listeners will cheer for him and he can win a woman's admiration. Then they may get married if everything goes well. Other activities include competitions of climbing a flower-decorated pole(杆)and wushu.
Each year, Tiaohua Festival attracts international tourists from all over the world." We're really surprised by the local culture and the welcoming people," a foreigner named Charlie said excitedly.
