About Hainan
Festivals
Hainan Festivals
On Hainan Island , people of different nationalities live in harmony. Their cultural life is varied and colourful and features lots of simple customs.
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Like people in other parts of China , they enjoy the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival. In addition, Hunan 's major festivals also include some local ones.
International Coconut Festival
Held between March and April every year, it is a comprehensive public occasion that Hainan province has adopted to promote economic and cultural interactions with international communities.
Junpo Festival
A large-scale activity held by people of different districts in Hainan for the purpose of memorising a national heroine, called Madam Xian, who contributed a lot to the development and the nation unity of Hainan. (March/April). The origins of this festival date back to the 6th century. During this time, Hainan was a backwards and disordered society, rife with bandits and lacking the agricultural technology that mainland China enjoyed. The solution to Hanna's dilemma came in the guise of Madam Xian Ying (AD 513-603). Madame Xian was a brilliant strategist, politician, and military leader who almost single-handedly dispensed of Hanna's bandits, improved communications and agriculture, and brought peace and stability to the people of Hainan . She did this by amassing a large number of troops to enforce the law, unite the different tribes of Hainan and maintain order in society.
To commemorate the achievements of Hanna's first heroine, and express gratitude for her contributions to the islands development, the people hold the Military Field Festival every year. The festival includes many traditions of Hainan , crowds of people, and dazzling performances. In addition to more traditional Chinese Dragon and Lion Dances, local men and boys demonstrate their mettle and courage with martial arts contest, climbing knife-edged ladders, walking on coals, and piercing their cheeks with enormous iron rods. The festival also features intricately carved shrines to Madame Xian, Qiong opera and puppet show performances and a wide array of local delicacies.
Flower-Exchange-Festival in Fucheng Town
On the 15th day of the first lunar month every year (February), the Fucheng Town of Qiongshan City is immersed in a sea of flowers. When street lights turn on, people go out on streets and start presenting flowers to each other as a gift with best wishes for the New Year.
International Wedding – Festival at the ”End of the Earth” in Sanya
From the 18th to the 21st of November every year, couples from all over the world will gather at the famous Tianya Haijiao - near Sanya city - to celebrate their new marriage or wedding anniversaries. When referred to love and marriage, Tianya Haijiao in Chinese implies eternal relationship. It means that the sea and the sky, the stones and the mountains will all act as the witness of love. The International Wedding Ceremony is highlighted with various interesting activities.
Held between March and April every year, it is a comprehensive public occasion that Hainan province has adopted to promote economic and cultural interactions with international communities.
Junpo Festival
A large-scale activity held by people of different districts in Hainan for the purpose of memorising a national heroine, called Madam Xian, who contributed a lot to the development and the nation unity of Hainan. (March/April). The origins of this festival date back to the 6th century. During this time, Hainan was a backwards and disordered society, rife with bandits and lacking the agricultural technology that mainland China enjoyed. The solution to Hanna's dilemma came in the guise of Madam Xian Ying (AD 513-603). Madame Xian was a brilliant strategist, politician, and military leader who almost single-handedly dispensed of Hanna's bandits, improved communications and agriculture, and brought peace and stability to the people of Hainan . She did this by amassing a large number of troops to enforce the law, unite the different tribes of Hainan and maintain order in society.
To commemorate the achievements of Hanna's first heroine, and express gratitude for her contributions to the islands development, the people hold the Military Field Festival every year. The festival includes many traditions of Hainan , crowds of people, and dazzling performances. In addition to more traditional Chinese Dragon and Lion Dances, local men and boys demonstrate their mettle and courage with martial arts contest, climbing knife-edged ladders, walking on coals, and piercing their cheeks with enormous iron rods. The festival also features intricately carved shrines to Madame Xian, Qiong opera and puppet show performances and a wide array of local delicacies.
Flower-Exchange-Festival in Fucheng Town
On the 15th day of the first lunar month every year (February), the Fucheng Town of Qiongshan City is immersed in a sea of flowers. When street lights turn on, people go out on streets and start presenting flowers to each other as a gift with best wishes for the New Year.
International Wedding – Festival at the ”End of the Earth” in Sanya
From the 18th to the 21st of November every year, couples from all over the world will gather at the famous Tianya Haijiao - near Sanya city - to celebrate their new marriage or wedding anniversaries. When referred to love and marriage, Tianya Haijiao in Chinese implies eternal relationship. It means that the sea and the sky, the stones and the mountains will all act as the witness of love. The International Wedding Ceremony is highlighted with various interesting activities.
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DANZHOU Sing-Along on the Moon-Festival
The young men and women in the northern part of Danzhou City regard the Moon Festival in October, as the best day to pray for love and happiness and consider that songs can best express their feelings. So when the day comes, they will go up to a nearby hill - men on one side and women on the other - and sing. Each singer has a challenger of opposite sex. When both of them are satisfied with each other's singing, a love story has well begun.
Sanyuesan-Festival
Traditionally, it was a special occasion (in April) for the unmarried young men and women of Li and Miao nationality to celebrate new life and pray for love and happiness. Today it has become a public ceremony for all Li and Miao, to entertain themselves with songs, dances and sport activities.
The young men and women in the northern part of Danzhou City regard the Moon Festival in October, as the best day to pray for love and happiness and consider that songs can best express their feelings. So when the day comes, they will go up to a nearby hill - men on one side and women on the other - and sing. Each singer has a challenger of opposite sex. When both of them are satisfied with each other's singing, a love story has well begun.
Sanyuesan-Festival
Traditionally, it was a special occasion (in April) for the unmarried young men and women of Li and Miao nationality to celebrate new life and pray for love and happiness. Today it has become a public ceremony for all Li and Miao, to entertain themselves with songs, dances and sport activities.
Traditional Chinese Festivals
| Duan Wu Festival | ||
| The best known story centres on a patriotic court official and poet named Qu Yuan, of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago. Qu tried to warn the emperor of an increasingly corrupt government, but fails. In a last desperate protest, he throws himself into the river and drowns. He was an honest man who was dearly loved by the people. The government of the kingdom of Chu was however, a corrupt one, and many of the courtiers resented Qu Yuan's talent, his sense of righteousness and his popularity. They finally convinced the Emperor that it was, in fact Qu Yuan who was a corrupt influence and he was banished from the kingdom.
For many years after, Qu Yuan wandered the countryside composing poems about his love for the people until, one day, perhaps unable to bear his sorrow any longer, or maybe as a final protest against the corrupt government of the time, he threw himself into the Mi Lo River. Local fishermen who witnessed this desperate act dashed to their boats and attempted to rescue Qu Yuan. They were unsuccessful but in an attempt to prevent the hungry fish from eating the poet's body, they beat the water furiously with their paddles and made rice dumplings wrapped in reed-leaves (zongzi) and scatter them into the Miluo River in the hope that the fishes in the river would eat the rice dumplings instead of the body of the deceased poet. Days after as a sacrifice to his spirit, the fishermen threw rice dumplings, wrapped in silk, into the river. The custom of making rice dumplings spread to the whole country. Today, people eat glutinous rice cakes to mark the occasion. The Dragon-Boat Racing Some of you who live in major cities with a significant Chinese population may have heard of or even attended "Dragon Boat Races". These races consist of boats built in the shape of a dragon with a skinny and long body. It's hard to believe that a boat that was designed centuries ago actually has such aero-dynamic feature. These dragon boats all have a beautiful dragon head, complete with eyes and whiskers, at one and a dragon tail at the other end. The tragic death of Qu Yuan is commemorated each year on the fifth day of the fifth moon when the fishermen's frantic attempt to save the poet is re-enacted in the form of dragon boat races. Also at this time of the year, in keeping with the legend, rice cakes are made, but instead of being thrown into the water, are enjoyed by everyone. |
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| The Moon Festival - One Week Holiday for Everybody | ||
| On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is round and the Chinese people mark their Moon (or Mid-autumn) Festival. The round shape to a Chinese means family reunion. Therefore the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible. On that day sons and daughters will bring their family members back to their parents' house for a reunion. Sometimes people who have already settled overseas will come back to visit their parents on that day. Every Chinese holiday is accompanied by some sort of special food. On the Moon Festival, people eat moon cakes, a kind of cookie with fillings of sugar, fat, sesame, walnut, yoke of preserved eggs, ham or other material. In Chinese fairy tales, there live on the moon the fairy Chang E, a wood cutter named Wu Gang and a jade rabbit which is Chang E's pet. In the old days, people paid respect to the fairy Chang E and her pet the jade rabbit. The custom of paying homage to the fairy and rabbit is gone, but the moon cakes are showing improvement every year. There are hundreds of varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of the Moon Festival this year. Some moon cakes are of very high quality and very delicious. An overseas tourist is advised not to miss it if he or she happens to be in China during the Moon Festival. |  |
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| Spring Festival - Chinese New Year! | ||
| By far the most important holiday in China is the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. To the Chinese people it is as important as Christmas to people in the West. The dates for this annual celebration are determined by the lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, so the timing of the holiday varies from late January to early February. To the ordinary Chinese, the festival actually begins on the eve of the lunar New Year's Day and ends on the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. But the 15th of the first month, which normally is called the Lantern Festival, means the official end of the Spring Festival in many parts of the country. Preparations for the New Year begin the last few days of the last moon, when houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes purchased. Houses are festooned with paper scrolls bearing auspicious antithetical couplet and in many homes, people burn incense at home and in the temples to pay respects to ancestors and ask the gods for good health in the coming months. "Guo Nian", meaning "passing the year", is the common term among the Chinese people for celebrating the Spring Festival. It actually means greeting the New Year. At midnight at the turn of the old and New Year, people used to let off fire-crackers which serve to drive away the evil spirits and to greet the arrival of the New Year. In an instant the whole city would be engulfed in the deafening noise of the firecrackers. On New Year's Eve, all the members of families come together to feast. Jiaozi, a steamed dumpling as pictured below, is popular in the north, while southerners favour a sticky sweet glutinous rice pudding called Nian Gao. |  |
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| Chongyang Festival | ||
| The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival. The festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing principles in nature. Yin is feminine, negative principle, while Yang is masculine and positive. The ancients believed that all natural phenomena could be explained by this theory. Numbers are related to this theory. Even numbers belong to Yin and odd numbers to Yang. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it is called Chongyang. Chong means double in Chinese. Chongyang has been an important festival since ancient times. The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at harvest -time. The bright clear weather and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festive happy atmosphere. The Double Ninth Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities. Many people go hiking and climbing in the country, enjoying Mother Nature's final burst of colour before she puts on her dull winter cloak. Some will carry a spray of dogwood. |
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