Yaozu Shuagetang

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The 16th day on Lunar October is an important date for the Yao people. It was the day to memorized the birthday of their great leader Panwang. everywhere in the world the Yao made festival to celebrated this date. Especially in this part of China, the cross road between Hunan, Guangxi and Guangdong, where they claimed was the original birth place for the Yao, even pinpointed a place Qianjiadong to be exactly the place where the Yao ancestor lived. Although different area celebrated in a slightly different way, but the long-drum dance are the standard activity. Here in Liannan, Guangdong Province, the Yao like to gathered dance party called the Shuagetang, Shua mean play and Getang mean dancing party. in the old day each village would organized their Getang according to their convenient, then invited friends and relatives from other villages. Nowaday only some villages still held dance party and the Youling village is one of them. with the booming tourismo economic, the festival came together with a great ceremony show imitating the long march of the Yao ancestor from the eastern coast, their daily farming life, their folk legend hero expelled evil from their land. of course...not without the standard long-drum dance!

Liannan offered awesome landscape with good road condition for traveler. The area live mostly Paiyao, and some villages inhabited with Guoshanyao, but there are couple of different Yao subgroup within the Paiyao family, and you could see all their different costume inside the brand new Yao museum in Liannan

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Photos

the ceremony show
long-drum dance

Comments

[HELENA & JEFF FROM BELGIUM]

YAOZU SHUAGETANG
Hi Tamwei WOW ... great festival, great pics; congratulations ! Always happy to receive mail from you. Feb next year we start traveling again (for 3 months)... Guizhou and Yunnan ... maybe we'll meet again ... somewhere ! Kind regards, Helena and Jeff from Belgium.

[D MJ Binkley]

Great photos
Love the colors and the ceremony.