Sisters' Meal Festival

The Sisiters' Meal festival is held usually in the early April, it differs from year to year, because the local Miao people use the lunar calendar. The Miao people cerebrate it on the fifteenth of the third lunar month, it often lasts 3 days.
We can go to Shidong, a small town to the northeast of Kaili, about 2 hours' drive,  to enjoy the festival.
The Sisters' meal festival brings villagers from many remote mountain areas together in search of a mate. A kaleidoscope of colors, local customs and traditions, signature costumes and hairstyles provide a never-ending fashion show.

Preparing for the ceremony

People come by boats, by trucks, by foot, from villages hidden in mountains near Shidong, to join in this biggest party in a year.  Families carry big baggages, all the silver ornament and beautiful dressing are not good for long distance walk.   They will dress up their girls by the riverside.

In anticipation of the Sisters' Meal Festival, the grandmothers, mothers and other female relatives polish and shine the collection of silver neck rings, bracelets, anklets, earrings, hair pins and combs, rings and pendants, phoenix crowns and headpieces that the young courting-age girls will wear.  

Dazzling embroidered skirts, blouses, aprons and jackets are decorated with many different tooled silver ornaments. Pretty necks are encircled with bands of silver and linking silver chains that support large shining lockets, glittering beads and hanging tassels. Elaborate silver headpieces crown the heads of the girls as they proudly display their self-made costumes.

Singing and Dancing Performance

The Qingshui riverside becomes lively and exciting as the music and dancing begins.
As they walk and dance, the lovely Miao girls jingle and shimmer in the sun. 
Their cheeks burn with excitement while they flirt with handsome young men, each of whom is searching for a beauty worthy of his strength and handsomeness.
Meanwhile, you will find many elders at the cockfighting competitions, trading at the daylong markets, or leisurely rowing long dugout canoes on the river beside the festival ground. This is a time of camaraderie and "catching up."