Taijiang Dragon Lantern Festival
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City Name:Kaili (Chinese: 凯里, Pinyin:Kaili)
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Population :450,000
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Area :13061 sq km (506 sq mi)
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Overview:Kaili is a city in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, a significant population of Miao and Gejia live in Kaili. Kaili is host to more than 120 Miao festivals throughout the year.
Taijing is a small town near Kaili, about 2 hours driving distance.
Several Miao ethnic groups in Taijiang celebrate this Dragon Lantern Festival. From the period of the 1st to 15th of the first lunar month, people make large paper dragons that are manipulated by 10 to 15 men. Children play small straw dragons everywhere.
At night, they weave through the streets stopping at different households. Each householder gives them money and liquor to ensure good luck for the family during the coming year, the paper-made dragon can't enter.
The main street of Taijiang, it is filled with giant homemade fireworks made from bamboo and packed with gunpowder.
These are lit and the flames directed at the dragons. The center of activity is outside the local government building where all the dragons come to receive money.
Often there are as many as 30 to 35 dragons to destroy. The excitement continues until midnight with the unmarried ending the festivals by singing love songs to each other.
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