The Bridge Worship Festival

The Bridge Worship Festival is a traditional festival of Miao people in Qiubei .People build and worship the bridges, praying for good weather, a flourishing population, and good luck.

All people join the festival will dress up with their best clothes. Women and men go to the bridges, burning paper money and incense, pouring down the rice wine on the ground for the bridges and their ancestors. After they finish burning incense and paper money, they will play lusheng (a Miao music instrument) and dance, while some people will hold bull fight near their villages.

The Yi Torch Festival

This is one of the biggest events of the year for the Yi people from the south-west of China. This festival occurs on the 24th of June every year and is a truly great sight to behold.

During the festival, numerous torches are lit and the celebrations continue for three days. Yi culture is far removed from life in Western countries, the British countryside, pubs, video games, partypoker are very different to the ancient and little-changed traditions of the Yi. The Torch Festival is one of the aspects of the local cultures that is fascinating to outsiders.

It is thought that this tradition originated because the ancestors of the people now living in south-western China used to worship fire. It was their belief that fire repelled insects and evils, as well as protecting the growth of crops. As night falls in the villages, the torches light up the sky and singing and dancing commences. This is a magical time when parties last all night and prayers for a good harvest are made.

There are also many more activities which go on as part of the festival. The Yi people hold horse races with torches as hurdles, as well as arrow-shooting and tug-of-war. In Sichuan, grand torch parades are held by the Lisu people which is a very impressive sight to see.

A prominent thing about this festival is that it provides an opportunity for many young men and women to find their prospective spouses. The women dress up in costume, and there is even a costume contest in the afternoon for both men and women from the respective tribes. All assemble on stage and are judged.

Perhaps the most spectacular sight of the whole event occurs when the fire-worship ritual really begins. Light fills all corners of the field, a ceremony with prayers is undertaken, before celebrations and dancing around bonfires.

Hualian Festival

Hualian means to enforce somebody to wear collies. Hualian Festival is special of Yi Minority in Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture. Yis there also claim themselves to be Sani branch like that in the Stone Forest. Yi ancestors in Qiubei were said to wear black collies on their faces to drive away evil spirits thus Hualian Festival was brought forth, and it has become a golden opportunity for young generation to develop new romances because they could, on that day, “mark the faces” to express love.

The Cave of the Immortal

The Cave of the Immortal(仙人洞), a Yi village in Puzhehei Resort, is noted for its Hualian Festival and beautiful landscapes around. The elderly say that Hualian Festival has been celebrated for nearly one thousand years. Legend goes that: Demons once committed invasion to the village and tried to kidnap Yi lasses. Villagers racked their brains and finally figured out a smart idea: dressed up by wearing collies on their faces to make them look ugly and unpleasing; when the demons suddenly saw the “ugly” people of the village, they got scared and “disappointed”, and finally gave up. In order to memorize the great event, Yi people in Puzhehei would spend Hualian Festival to “exorcise” ominous matters and celebrate happiness every year. Other paints have also come with collies.  

1)Ayong Bridge: built on the outstrected branches of trees from the two banks of the river

2)Ayong ancestral home of the Nong clan

3)Guima Bridge: a traditional wind-and-rain bridge that is the center for folk singing and recreation

4)Guima Hall of the Elders

5)Wang Peilun’s Residence: Xiban Village 夕板村, Guangnan

6)The Tinglang (rest kiosks) of Xiban Village 夕板村, Guangnan

7)The ganlan houses of Tuotong Village 拖同村 and Dixian Village 底仙村

Historical villages include:

·         Heye 河野村

·         Tuopai 拖派村

·         Dixian 底仙村: notable for its unique ganlan houses found only there

·         Nabei 那贝村

·         Tuotong 拖同村

·         Gejia 革假村: notable for its thousand-year-old banyan tree, and for its many natives who passed the civil examination to become jinshi 进士 (palace candidates) during the Qing Dynasty

·         Ayong 阿用

·         Guima 贵马

The principle nationalities inhabiting Guangnan county are the Zhuang and the Miao. They have different habit of living: Zhuang used to live at the headwaters region, while Miao like to live at the top of a mountain. The ancestor of Miao was good at hunting. The hunters were often injured and bleeding. They chewed a kind of weed and used the chewed weed to put on the wound to stop the bleeding, the wound was sealed just like by a lacquer. It is now one of the famous medicines in China.

Guangnan county is a place inhabited by eleven ethnic minorities. Therefore, celebrating the festivals altogether with local minorities in the most interesting thing. Danu Festival is the grandest festival of the whole for the Yao ethnic minority. In addition, lotus festival, torch festival and many other local traditional celebrations are undoubtedly temptations for visitors. There are many resources including plants, animals, minerals.

Huajie (Flower Street) Festival is one of the grandest traditional festivals of the Zhuang people living in Guangnan County. As a matter of fact, the Flower Street Festival is the “Valentine’s Day” of the Zhuangs.

Annually held around lunar March 3rd, the festival is mainly spent by the Nong People (a branch of the Zhuang Minority) most of who are found living in Nalun, Zhetu and Zhulin towns of Guangnan County. The festival is said to originate from the efforts of the Zhuang people to smash the feudal marital system for a free romantic world. 

During the festival, lasses and lads in their holiday’s best will head for the street jubilantly. What highlights the festival is that live antiphonally-singing by the young people. Elegant gifts will be presented when Mr. Right or Ms. Right is found.

 Goodfellas Bar 乌托邦酒吧 

 Address：On south of Putting road of Funing county in Wensshan.文山壮族苗族自治州富宁县普厅南路老地方

Yepu  music  bar -夜蒲音乐酒吧 

 Address：No,20 on Wenti road of Funing county in Wenshan文山壮族苗族自治州富宁县文体路20号

Tel：08763022199

Haoledi KTV 好乐迪KTV量贩

Address：Nanduyuan community of Funing county in Wenshan.文山壮族苗族自治州富宁县南都苑小区

Tel：0876-6129688

Wenyuan Tea house文苑茶馆 

Address：On Wenyuan road of Funning county in Wenshan.文山壮族苗族自治州富宁县文苑路

Tel：0876-6130177

Lida club  丽大娱乐会所  

Address: On east road of Funning county in Wenshan.文山壮族苗族自治州富宁县环城东路附近

 Minority Culture

Ethnics living there are mainly Yi, Zhuang (zhuàng zú 壮族) and Miao (miáo zú 苗族) all of whom have developed colorful ethnic cultures of their own.The Sani people there claim themselves “Sanipo”. They believe they are the descendants of the Sani People in the Stone Forest who fled to Qiubei Area some 400 years ago. The entire village is made up of 75 families or 780 villagers, all of whom are Sani – a branch of the Yi Minority.

As many other minorities do in Yunnan Province, the Sani People believe in animism which makes their traditional festivals mysteriously linked to gods and the nature. They deem themselves a nation that was gave birth by trees. That’s probably why a huge sacred tree is enshrined as the Dragon Tree on their yearly Mizhi Festival (mì zhī jiē 密枝节).

Girls of the Zhuang ethnic group dressed in folk costumes which are adorned with jingling silver ornaments and embroidery, row little wooden boats and send visitors along the winding 21-km water corridor through Luoshuidong Lake (luò shuǐ dòng hú 落水洞湖), Puzhehei Lake (pǔ zhě hēi hú 普者黑湖) and Xianren Lake(xiān rén hú 仙人湖).

Festivals

Dragon Worship Festival of Zhuang

Dragon Worship Festival (jì lóng jiē 祭龙节) of Zhuang  is a famous tradional festival in Puzhehei.

Date: 3rd of of the third month by lunar calendar

Venue: Nahong Village (nà hóng cūn 那红村), Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture

Painted-Face Festival

Date: 24th day of the sixth month – 24th day of the seventh month by lunar calendar
Venue: Puzhehei Scenic Area of Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture.

With the history of more than 1,000 years, most known in Puzhehei, Puzhehei Yi Painted-Face Festival (huā liǎn jié 花脸节) is the unique traditional festival of Yis in Qiubei County, Yunnan. During the festival, there are activities such as grand performance for the opening ceremony, face-painting carnival, water splashing and fish catching competition. The climax of the activity is when people blacken faces mutually with pot soot to express good wishes. Its extraordinarily exciting air attracts ten thousands of people every year. It’s extremely popular or preferred by the young people. On the festival, lard and chimney soot is mixed into paste to be smeared by people each other to make fun.

Mizhi Festival

Mizhi festival (mì zhī jiē 密枝节) is one of the main traditional festivals spent by the Sani people living in counties such as Shilin (shí lín xiàn 石林县), Mile (mí lè xiàn 弥勒县) and Qiubei etc. Functioning as a religious service of the Sanis, it is routinely held from the second Rat Day to the Horse Day of the lunar November, lasting about seven days; it’s billed as “men’s day” because many ceremonies are merely attended by male Sani villagers.