The Harvest Ceremony is celebrated by all Gaoshan people and is the most important one. The annual Harvest Ceremony of the Gaoshan people is equivalent to the Spring Festival of the Han people. It is held in the harvest season, usually in the eighth lunar month. Everyone, old and young, put on their festival best: women wear flowers, brooch, earrings and bracelets: men wear feather hats and tie bronze bells to their waist belts. Those younger prefer smalls bells fastened around their ankles. People eat meat, drink wine, sing and dance, totally immersed in the happiness of the festival.
Dancing and singing is a vital criterion for young people to pick up their mates. When a girl falls in a boy, she would go up to dance with him, and let the expressive steps do the speaking. If a boy is adept at farming, singing and dancing, he would find more than two girls surrounding him. The mass dance, called “Hand-in-Hand Dance,” features a combination of singing and dancing without instrumental accompaniment.
