When the heavy ears of rice lowered their heads, we knew that the new festival was coming.

The Eating New Festival, also known as the Tasting New Festival, is a major festival for Gelao people to celebrate harvest, sacrifice their ancestors and taste the fruits of labor. There is no specific date for the Eating New Festival. The date of the festival is determined by the sweet and mature taste in the air and the joy of harvest. Anyway, it is either July or August in the lunar calendar.

he ripening rice signals the arrival of the Chixin Festival.

The Chixin Festival, which involves eating the newly harvested rice, is a major celebration for the Gelao people to mark the harvest, honor their ancestors, and savor the fruits of their labor. The festival does not have a fixed date. Instead, it is determined by the sweet and ripe aroma of the rice in the air and the joyful mood brought about by the harvest. Typically, it falls in either July or August on the lunar calendar.

Eat a new festival and try something new.

According to legend, the ancestors of the Gelao people had a hard time surviving. They avoided outside interference and migrated to the mountains. They climbed up the stone to the most bright moonlight. In the deep of Dalou Mountain, they stopped to open up wasteland and cut grass, and found a home where they could live and work in peace and contentment. The Gelao people sang and pulled grass happily. When they were tired and tired, they lay down in the strange stone jungle. They worked and sang: "The field pulled weeds from the ditch to the ditch, picked a snail and threw it up. The snail was exposed to the sun, and Golang was exposed to sweat." Gradually, they planted crops and produced fruits. For this peaceful and ordinary day, they agreed to eat new things together and share joy in the harvest season. Later, in order to worship their ancestors, people celebrated the annual Eating New Day.

During the festival, people dressed in Gelao costumes went to the fields to pick ears of grain, bracts, fruits, vegetables, etc., and slaughtered livestock to make new festival dishes. The most special thing about the Gelao Eating New Festival is that on this day, Gelao people can pick crops from any crop land without being criticized, but it is considered as a wish to the farmers.

The wind blows the rice waves, and people who want to eat new are sent to the source of Gelao scenic spot. Here, a series of activities are being held, including "Gelao New Eating Festival" and "Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival". Gelao compatriots and tourists from all over the country get together to eat new things and celebrate the harvest together.

Eat New Day worship.

First is the ancestor worship ceremony. On the day of the New Eating Festival, an altar for sacrifice will be set up, with the memorial tablet of "Ancient Ancestors of the Site Owner" on the top, and a sacrificial table under it. On the left and right, new ear bundles, paper money, newly picked fruits and vegetables, grains and cereals will be displayed respectively; The middle red candle has a high fragrance; The new rice cake, white meat, fruit, wine, etc. are listed in order. Later, the new ancestor worship ceremony was presided over by the priest. The priest came to the altar to worship the ancestors, pay homage to the owners of the site and ancient ancestors, kowtow to the ancestors of Gelao people for their merits in opening up land and grass, and pray for good weather and bumper crops in the coming year.

At the end of the ceremony, a series of artistic performances and farmers' interesting games were held simultaneously: lion dance, Nuo opera, bamboo strip egg beating, pumpkin lifting competition, waist strength, fancy rope skipping... In a happy festival atmosphere, everyone felt the fun of sports and unique Gelao customs, and shared the joy of harvest.

A lion dance on a high platform.

On the dam, Gelao people built a high platform. The lion dance is a breathtaking performance. The lion dancers come in front of each other and form a lion with an auspicious name called "Roaring Lion". The lion dancers lift the square tables one by one and climb up to dance. The tables are seven, nine, or twelve, stacked on dozens of meters, high, difficult, dangerous, skillful, stimulating and tense, symbolizing the rising of the future.

Another venue played a happy game of beating eggs with bamboo strips against both sides, either alone or in a team, and threw each other hollow balls woven with bamboo strips. This is a game similar to volleyball. People who only heard the name would think that there were eggs in the hollow bamboo strips, but actually the bamboo strips themselves were woven like chicken eggs. The Gelao people's efforts to beat eggs reflect the Gelao people's love of life, positive spirit, and courage to work hard. It is a kind of sports that contains a variety of skills, and it is also a kind of entertainment that carries a lot of folk culture of the Gelao people.

In a happy atmosphere, don't forget the most important link -- try something new.

The long corridor of Longtan Ancient Village is hung with strings of hot red peppers, like wind chimes and firecrackers to be lit. Sanyao Terrace has been set up. The grand etiquette of Gelao people, such as tea banquet, banquet and dinner banquet, is simply "no one can fall down". There are tea and cake, beans and melons, meat and vegetables, fish and ducks, and a barrel of delicious steamed rice made from new millet. If you have already had a tea party, you come at the right time. Go to the duet and enjoy the toast! The bride outside the corridor has left her sedan chair, dressed in her wedding gown, and sang a mournful wedding song for you: "Chestnuts blossom with seven mounds, and the matchmaker's mouth is full of knives..." In this way, in the joy of harvest, Gelao compatriots and tourists spent the Eating New Day together.

In 2012, the Gelao New Eating Festival was rated as "China's Excellent National Festival" and "the most distinctive national festival" by the International Festival Association. In 2015, it was included in the fourth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage list of Guizhou Province. The Gelao New Food Festival is an important carrier for Gelao people to recognize and identify with their national cultural roots. Its significance lies more in remembering their ancestors, inheriting the national history and culture, and educating people to be grateful and virtuous.

Wen | Chen Xin

Picture | Provided by Publicity Department of Wuchuan Gelao and Miao Autonomous County Party Committee

New Media Editor | Xu Jieyu

Second instance | Zhang Fen

Third instance | Zhao Lin