Time: Early February – Early March
Venue: Zigong, Sichuan Province.
Origin: As early as the Tang Dynasty, the people of Zigong were already putting on lantern displays during Spring Festival. The custom remains alive and kicking till this day. The municipal government of Zigong makes it a point to sponsor a traditional lantern show every year during the Spring Festival.
What’s On: During the show, a “dragon” pieced together with porcelain dinner-sets, and a “peacock” fashioned out of glass drug bottles strung together, are displayed along with thousands of lanterns. The lanterns, which as a rule are marked by superb craftsmanship, are woven of thin bamboo strips and covered with colorful silk fabrics or paper; they are grouped into several hundred clusters to form a spectacular show of forms, colors, lights, movements and sounds. During the show commodities fairs and business talks are also held.
Qintong Boat Festival in Yangzhou
Time: April 4-6 every year.
Venue: Qintong Town, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province.
What’s On: This is a typical folklore activity. During the festival boats from nearby fishing villages converge at Qintong Town for a few days of rejoicing. Theatrical performances, dragon and lion dances, and other folk dances are staged right on board the boats. Boat races are also part of the festivity.
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Spring Flower Fair
Time: 28th-30th of the 12th lunar month, which falls on February 2-4 in 2000.
Venue: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
Origin: During the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), tea sales flourished, and the demand for flowers as ingredients for the making of flower tea snowballed, thereby providing a great impetus to flower cultivation in China. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns, flower fairs emerged in some cities. During the fairs the streets were lined with booths selling such flowers as water lily and lilac, which bloom in summer; osmanthus and nandina which come out in autumn and red maple; and magnolia and winter jasmine which come into full glory in late winter. Today, all these flowers can be seen at the Guangzhou Spring Flower Fair, which takes place on New Year’s Eve. For Guangzhou residents the Flower Fair is part of Spring Festival celebrations.
What’s On: Prior to the Spring Festival, farmers ship flowers into the city from suburbs, and lay them out in a number of streets. During the festival, local residents, old and young, take to the streets to see the flowers. When they return home they bring some of the flowers to decorate their houses. A journey down the flower-bedecked streets is like homecoming to nature.
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