Guangxi is home to the majority of the Zhuang people. During the third lunar month, there is an important festival for them called "San Yue San", also known as the "Shangsi Festival". In early spring, it's the season for sowing and farming, and farmers begin their busy work in the fields, looking forward to a bountiful harvest in the new year. Huayi Network has prepared more information related to the "March 2022 Lunar Month" for you to take a look.

What is the festival of March 3rd in Guangxi?

The March 3rd Festival in Guangxi is also known as the "Song Festival" or "Song Fair", which is a traditional festival of the Zhuang people. According to legend, this festival originated from the commemoration of Liu Sanjie, the Song Fairy of the Zhuang people, hence it is also called the "Song Fairy Festival". On the third day of the third lunar month every year, the Zhuang people cook five-colored rice using young green maple leaves, red and blue grass, etc. People put branches of maple leaves on the door and around the house, set up cloth tents at the village entrance and the end of the village, and place five-colored rice and other offerings under the tents. Men, women, and children gather around the tents to sing songs and participate in the song competition.

What are the special activities?

1. The "Hua Pao" (Flower Cannon) Competition
During the third lunar month and after the harvest, some ethnic minority areas in Guangxi will spontaneously hold the "Hua Pao" activity. All age groups wear traditional festive clothes, and people rush to the event site early in the morning. The person who wins the flower cannon will have good luck and good things will happen continuously in the new year.
2. Making Five-Colored Rice Cakes
During the festival, every household prepares five-colored rice cakes and small colored eggs. People collect red orchid flowers, yellow rice flowers, red maple leaves, purple sweet potato vines, and use the juice of these plants to soak the glutinous rice, making five-colored glutinous rice in red, yellow, black, purple, and white. It is said that this food was praised by the fairies and then spread; some say it is for worshiping the Song Fairy Liu Sanjie. The meaning of eating five-colored rice is to wish for health and smoothness in the new year.
3. The Embroidered Ball Expresses Feelings
The embroidered balls made during the festival are works of art created by girls. They are all exquisite silk artworks: twelve flowers are connected into a spherical shape, each flower representing a certain month of the year, with the flowers of that month embroidered on them. Some embroidered balls are made into square or polygonal shapes. Inside the ball, there is either beans or cottonseed oil. A silk ribbon is attached to the ball, with hanging tassels and decorative beads, symbolizing pure and sincere feelings between two people.