Baisha harvest festival promotes folk customs

The 2018 Baisha "Laaomen" Harvest Festival was held in Qingsong village, Baisha Li autonomous county on Nov 11 to express thanks to nature and pray for bountiful harvests year after year. 

Beginning last year, the festival brand has been enrolled into Baisha's county-level intangible cultural heritage list. This year's event added a cultural exhibition, rice reaping and fruit picking, an enhanced brand value of agricultural products and the promotion of the rural revitalization strategy.

The activity was jointly sponsored by the Baisha county Party committee, the Baisha county government and Hainan Daily Newspaper Group. Organizers included Hainan Daily Convention and Exhibition Co Ltd, the Baisha culture, tourism and commerce bureau, and the governments of Qifang town, Qingsong village and Bangxi town.

To date, Baisha has planted about 4,600 mu (306.67 hectares) of Shanlan rice, a type of mountainous upland rice used by the Li ethnic group. About 4,100 mu is currently cultivated in Qingsong village.