Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival	Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is the most important celebration of the Miao people who live along the Qingshuijiang River in the southeast of Guizhou Province. It usually falls on the 24th and 27th of the fifth lunar month.
Every year between 30,000 and 40,000 Miao participate in the festival. In the eyes of the Miao, the dragon is a good symbol. Girls like to adorn their hair with silver ornaments shaped like dragons and wear clothes embroidered or woven with dragon patterns. The Miaos make exquisite dragon boats. The dragon's body consists of three canoes -- one large and two small --that are bound together. The carved head, painted red, blue or yellow, is made from the trunk of a water willow tree. It is about two meters long and sports a pair of horns. The Miao Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated from the 24th to 27th of the fifth lunar month. But according to local customs, people are allowed to send their boats down the river after the 16th, provided that they have finished weeding their fields. The earlier appearance of the boats on the river is a testimony to the efficiency of the villagers. The diligent peasants consider it a shame not to finish weeding before the festival begins.