The Guniang Festival靈川姑娘節

On the morning of June16th， there was a launchingceremony of the traditionalfolk festival — the GuniangFesitival. In JiangtouVillage， Lingchuan County，Guangxi. Nearby villagersgathered together to lettourists experience the charm of local folk culture through song and danceperformances and parades（ 游行）.

The origin of the Guniang Festival can be traced back to the legend ofDongshan Xian Gu（ 東山仙姑） in Jiangtou Village. According to the legend，Ku Mei（ 苦妹） was a hardworking and kind-hearted girl in the village whofell in love with a woodcutter. The woodcutter gave her a wooden comb as asymbol of their love， but it was taken away by a crow（ 烏鴉）. Ku Mei chasedthe crow into a cave and sat down on a cool stone slab（ 冷石板） to rest andcomb her hair. To her surprise， she became a fairy on the spot. The villagersbelieved that Ku Mei was a fairy sent by heaven and named her “DongshanXian Gu”. They celebrate this festival on the 14th day of the fifth lunar monthevery year.

On this day， the villagers dress up in ancient clothes， organize traditionalcompetitions， hold banquets（ 宴席）， and perform cultural activities， such asdoing the Yangko dance（ 秧歌） and lion dance. Every year， people from thevillage who work outside would return home with their children and give themgifts to celebrate the festival. Daughters who are married would come back tohave a meal with their families.

In recent years， Lingchuan County has been using the form of the festivalas a method to develop rural tourism and boost the local economy. The GuniangFestival promotes both cultural heritage and rural revitalization in a newway.