Guiyang is a city where various ethnic groups live in compact communities. With the unique folk customs and brilliant local culture created by various ethnic groups in the long history, it makes Guiyang a gallery of the folk customs.

Siyueba Festival

Siyueba festival(April 8th Festival) is a traditional festival celebrated by the Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Zhuang, Yi, Tujia, and Gelao people in Guizhou Province, the west of Hunan Province and the north of Guangxi Province. There are different celebrations in different places, of which the grandest one is held in Guiyang.

On every April 8th on the lunar calendar, the Miao people in Guiyang and nearby gather around the Great Fountain in the city center, in their best costumes to sing and dance to the melodies from the lusheng and the bamboo flutes. Legend has it that S iyueba Festival is in memory of the ancient Miao heroes buried at the place where the Great Fountain now lies on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month that year. This ceremony passed down from generation to generation and has become a custom. Now, this festival is a joyous celebrated day by the Miao, Buyi, Dong, Zhuang, Shui, Gelao, even Han people and other ethnic groups, a grand ceremony to present the traditional folk culture. Some minority young people take advantage of the chance to make friends and choose their future spouses.

Sanyuesan Festival  

Sanyuesan festival(March 3rd Festival) , formerly called the Cutworm Fair, is a traditional festival of the Buyi people, at which in memory of cutworms, the Buyi people scatter fried corns to the slopes and sing folk songs to pray for a harvest.

Now the Cutworm Fair has become Sanyuesan Festival. On every 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, the Buyi people in Guiyang and nearby gather round the Xinbao Town, Wudang District. Young men and young women either join in the singing competition, or sing in antiphonal style by blowing the tree leaves in the dense forest, or travel in groups along the stream playing with the water and singing cheerfully. When finding each other congenial, they will present gifts to each other and then walk in pairs from the crowds into the woods.

Liuyueliu Festival   

Liuyueliu festival (June 6th Festival) is an important traditional festival of the Buyi people in Guiyang. On every sixth day of the sixth lunar month every year, thousands of the Buyi people in Guiyang and nearby gather on the beautiful banks of the Huaxi River. They enjoy themselves either going through the dense forest, or walking around the flower beds, or going boating, or blowing tree leaves, or singing folk songs.

The festival comes from a legend like this:  Long, long ago, a beautiful Buyi girl made an embroidery picture of green mountains and lovely waters with flowers in four seasons. At the sight of this treasured embroidery, the fiend had an evil plan to take it away. After seven days and nights of hard fight, the girl and villagers found it difficult to repulse the fiend's troop. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, seeing the treasure would be taken away, the girl cast it into the air. Instantly, the picture changed into the beautiful mountains and waters in Huaxi while the fiend died of anger, turning into a pile of tangled stones sinking to the bottom of the Huaxi River.  Later, in memory of this Buyi girl who created the beautiful Huaxi, on every sixth day of the sixth lunar month, people gather on the banks of Huaxi River singing and dancing to show their respect.  As time passes on, Liuyueliu festival is formed.

Lusheng Dance 

Lusheng is an antique reed instrument.  The longest one is more than 1 zhang (equals 5 metres) while the shortest one is less than 1 chi( equals 3 centimetres). Some have a maxium of 10 reeds.  Some have charinet or oboe.  The most popular ones have 6 reeds, with forceful but low and deep tone or clear and melodious tone.  In the history of the Miao's culture, Lusheng was not only regarded as the symbol of their people, but also combined with dance, music, acrobatics and martial art, etc,. With the communication and interaction of various cultures, Lusheng dance is also popular in the Dong, Shui, Buyi, Yao and Yi ethnic groups.

There are nearly 100 tunes and dance paces, of which, 10 are most popular, with lively rhythm in bold and rough style.  Lusheng Dance is composed of two kinds: women' dance accompanied by men's playing and dancing accompanied by one's own playing. Martial art movements of the Miao people and some extremely difficult acrobatic feats have been assimilated in Lusheng dance, which is especially popular.  Now, Lusheng Dance is a necessary activity in the festivals of the Miao people in Guiyang.

Bullfight

Not like that in Spain which is a fight between a man and a bull. Bullfight in the rural areas of Guiyang is a distinctive recreational activity in the slack season. Bullfight is usually held after the transplanting of the rice seedlings and before the harvest that is between the sixth lunar month and the eighth lunar month. Gaopo and Mengguan are the two villages where bullfights are held.  The bull which will join in the fight is called Balang by the local people.  To pray a victory for Balang , the relatives and friends of the same village or other villages will invite the owner of a Balang to drink Balang Wine to boost his courage.

Caichang which takes place on the day of bullfight is an exciting prelude. After the report of the iron guns, the Balang with red ribbons tied to the head, and the sheets presented by relatives and friends tied on the back, circles the court followed by the lookers-on. People in many other villages also bring their bulls to join in the ceremony, so that the atmosphere is lively and the scene is most magnificent with the spirited sound of suona horns, the deafening noise of the crackers, cheers and laughters. Then, a reverend elder makes a speech and takes the gifts off the bull's back and the ceremony Caichang concludes.

Upon the agreement of the bull owners, the Bullfight starts formally. If the two bulls are not matched in strength, soon the weak one will fall on the ground and then run away.  If they are well matched, they will keep fighting until both panting and foaming at the mouth.  Then a veteran will come to separate them with something like ropes or bamboo poles to avoid casualties.

Usually the bullfight ground is flat in the center with gentle slopes around, so that people can watch easily.

Dixi  

The origin of Dixi can be traced back to Nuo Dance in the primitive societies in China. Ancestors danced with god or animal facial masks to pay tribute to gods and drive away evil spirits and pray for a harvest.  Nuoxi is a comprehensive art transformed from the sacrificial singing and dancing ceremonies.  Large number of army men and emigrants to Guizhou in the Ming Dynasty brought in Nuoxi, which was popular in the Central Plains and regions in the South of Yangtze river.  Later, combined with the local culture, Dixi was formed, which kept the original style of Nuoxi.

Dixi of the Buyi people in Guiyang reaches its climax on the 15th day of the first lunar month of the year.  The contents of the stories are mainly based on ancient Chinese stories about going on an expedition and loyalty, with legends narrated by the rural languages.  It is interesting that the women characters in Dixi are acted by men.  The actors are dressed up with black cloth on the face, a facial mask on the forehead, a piece of amour around the waist and a spear or a sword in his hand.  The magnificent and unique costumes look colorful and mysterious, filled with the indomitable courage and martial qualities of the "Martial Nuo".