Chongqing, Hunan, Guizhou host cross-province Spring Festival celebration

A five-day Spring Festival celebration featuring intangible cultural heritage items and activities from Chongqing and the provinces of Hunan and Guizhou concluded on Sunday in Huayuan county, Hunan, creating an energetic crossroads of culture and traditions.

The opening day featured a parade with traditional lion and dragon dances along the Qingshui River.

At the heart of the celebration was a riverside festival market, where artisans displayed and sold handicrafts like Miao embroidery, batik, and herbal medicines. Visitors had the opportunity to learn techniques directly from the craft inheritors at various stalls.

"Miao embroidery is a national intangible cultural heritage and also a skill every woman in our Miao ethnic group learns," Long Li'e, a Miao embroidery artisan, told local media. "Now, we have incorporated the embroidery into smaller accessories for visitors, and they sell really well."

A culinary highlight was the Miao Long Table Banquet, where nearly a hundred tables lined the street. Guests shared local specialties such as cured meat and glutinous rice wine. The feast was complemented by a traditional Miao wedding procession, with the newlyweds offering blessings and toasts to the diners.

Blending tradition with modern fun, visitors also enjoyed datiehua displays, which involve spraying molten iron like fireworks, exhibitions of traditional Xiangxi art, and flash mobs.