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| June 6th in the lunar calendar this year fell on Saturday. The day is important for Buyi people who live mainly in China's southwestern Guizhou Province. (Photo/ CCTV) |
June 6th in the lunar calendar this year fell on Saturday. The day is important for Buyi people who live mainly in China's southwestern Guizhou Province.
As dawn breaks, Wu Jiangmei's day begins. She ties her hair back and gets dressed. The "flowerbag" on the table needs a few final stitches to complete. This small bag is stitched together by pieces of colourful cloth and filled with beans or seeds. Before long, the "flowerbag" will be in the hands of a young man.
The Festival of June 6th is a celebration for the Buyi people. But for the young, it is also their equivalent of Valentine's Day.
In Buyi's tradition, the flowerbag is a token of love. Single men and women get to know each other by throwing these flowerbags.
Apart from love, delicious food and new clothes are a must for the festival. Making glutinous rice together is another family tradition for locals.
And it is also a tradition to weave the cloth that will make for the whole family's clothes for the coming year.
The weaving machine was passed down from my parents. We all make the cloth ourselves. I need to make the clothes for the six of us by the festival, which takes about a year.
For the Buyi people, singing is a way to express love and celebrate relationships. A singing contest is therefore held during the festival. The event sees folk singers come from all over the county, with their soulful songs drifting over the surrounding mountains.
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