Lusheng festival will fall on the 27th, 28th, 29th of the ninth month in lunar calendar every year. It is mainly in November of western calendar, we changed it into western calendar on our web page in advance for you, so you can arrange your own trip reasonably if you want to visit this festival. We can arrange a tour for you if you want to come.
 This festival lasts about 2000 years after Miao people migrated into Guizhou. Lusheng festival is very popular in Guizhou, especially in Southeast Guizhou. Most of Lusheng festivals happen in February.
Lusheng is a kind of bamboo pipe. It acts an important role in Miao culture. The Lusheng is regarded as our mother. We Miao people often say, we could hear our mum's voice and her songs when we are playing this music instrument.
However, the Lusheng playing is very strict, we cannot play it everyday. The old people often tell us not to play it after rice planting time and before rice harvest, since the Lusheng playing might blow away the rice flowers, which will make farmers can not have a good harvest. Therefore, in the past time we did not allow people to do that in the Miao villages, unless the harvest is over already and the new rice is not planted yet. It is just like Americans' Thanks Giving Day' in some way. Most Miao people are animists, they believe in nature. They have this festival to thank their ancestors' spirits and the gods of nature and pray for a good rice harvest in the coming year.
In the festival, all farmers only eat their new rice and cook sticky rice, some families will make sticky rice cakes or steamed sticky rice wrapped by bamboo leaves. Hosts and their relatives drink rice wine day by day(3 days) in the morning and in the evening. They try to make a red point on the relatives' faces when each of them finishes a bowl of rice wine. The red point symbolizes good luck, so some people have more than 8 red points! The local farmers do not attend the festival unless they have finished their lunch, and drink a lot of rice wine. After lunch, many women wear traditional clothes, silver ornaments, carrying their babies on the back, and then walk to the dancing square in the mountain with a sweat smile on their 'red' faces, which look like red blooming azaleas.
On another aspect, it is not only a simple festival, but also a good dating time or chance for the unmarried people to get to know each other,and become marriage partners. Boys try to play lusheng better, and girls try to dance well in their colorful and traditional costumes with the boys' music.
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