Sisters' Meal Festival in Shidong

The sisiters' meal festival is held usually at the early April, it differs from year to year, because the local Miao Ethnic people use the lunar calendar.

 

Go to Sidong, a small town to the northeast of Kaili, about 3 hours drive one way, to enjoy the festival.

 

The Sisters' meal festival brings villagers from many remote mountain areas together in search of a mate. A kaleidoscope of colors, local customs and traditions, signature costumes and hairstyles provide a never-ending fashion show.

 

Preparing for the ceremony

People come by boats, by trucks, by foot, from villages hidden in mountains near Shidong, to join in this biggest party in a year.  Families carry big baggages, all the silver ornament and beautiful dressing are not good for long distance walk.   They will dress up their girls by the riverside.

 

In anticipation of the Sisters' Rice Festival, the grandmothers, mothers and other female relatives polish and shine the collection of silver neck rings, bracelets, anklets, earrings, hair pins and combs, rings and pendants, phoenix crowns and headpieces that the young courting-age girls will wear.

 

Dazzling embroidered skirts, blouses, aprons and jackets are decorated with many different tooled silver ornaments. Pretty necks are encircled with bands of silver and linking silver chains that support large shining lockets, glittering beads and hanging tassels. Elaborate silver headpieces crown the heads of the girls as they proudly display their self-made costumes.

 

The 1000 people singing and dancing ceremony
The Qingshui riverside becomes lively and exciting as the music and dancing begins. As they walk and dance, the lovely Miao girls jingle and shimmer in the sun. Their cheeks burn with excitement while they flirt with handsome young men, each of whom is searching for a beauty worthy of his strength and handsomeness.Meanwhile, you will find many elders at the cockfighting competitions, trading at the daylong markets, or leisurely rowing long dugout canoes on the river beside the festival ground. This is a time of camaraderie and "catching up."

 

 

Candle night party riverside
When darkness falls, the festival beat increases as the Dragon dances begin. Candles are lit inside the 25-meter-long hollow paper dragons. Battles begin as the fiery dragons weave in and out of the hooting crowds chasing each other. Drums and fireworks complete the noisy atmosphere.

 

Into the evening, the elders continue to make the rounds, greeting their friends, swapping stories and songs, sharing tobacco and wine.As the moon rises high in the night sky, young lovers wander off. The mountain paths are busy with the sounds of tinkling footsteps and clear melodious voices singing gentle love songs to the tunes of Lusheng pipes.And love is in the air!

 

The Photo tour of Sisters' Meal Festival
To get good photos on the Sisters' Meal Festival, the team of China Discover needs to prepare thouroughly,  the festival takes for days, and our clients' visiting time is limited due to their schedules, lots of phone calls to confirm the exact date for the biggest ceremony, clean places to eat and sleep, parking places, First Aids facilities, crowd control, etc.  

 

Every people who has signed up will always cherish this life-time journey.   We go by 2-10 people clubs, or go by 1-2 VIP special (for those people who do not like everyone-take photos), we have inspected all off-beaten roads in advance.  The major problem is that we do not have enough qualified tour leaders to escort this type of trip.  Mr Stewart Shen and Mr. Bobby Wu are two tour experts for this areas.