2019 Huanjiang Fenlong Festival kicks off in Guangxi

The opening ceremony for the 2019 Huanjiang Fenlong Festival and the 5th World Natural Heritage Cultural Tourism Festival was held in Huanjiang Maonan autonomous county, Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on June 29. Ethnic groups in Huanjiang gathered to celebrate the oldest and most important festival of the Maonan people.

Huanjiang is the birthplace of the Maonan people and still retains its primitive, simple, and mysterious way of life. It is the only autonomous county of the Maonan ethnic group nationwide and also a world natural heritage site.

The Fenlong Festival is a tradition in which participants pray for good weather for the crops, a good harvest, as well as happiness and health. It is held after the summer solstice every year and usually lasts three to five days.

The festival began with an ancient Maonan blessing ceremony and performances of folk legends to showcase the Maonan ethnic group's mysterious culture. After the opening ceremony, the 10th dragon boat challenge took place, featuring elite teams from inside and outside Guangxi who staged a sports cultural feast, further promoting Fenlong Festival’s dragon boat culture and Huanjiang's cultural glamour.