Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture launched nearly 70 cultural and tourism activities during the Spring Festival holiday, showcasing a strong ethnic flavor, and attracting tourists from all over the country to experience the Spring Festival customs of Xiangxi.
Xiangxi has launched the Spring Festival folk cultural activity themed “Celebrate the Spring Festival in Mysterious Xiangxi” for four consecutive years, creating a unique cultural and tourism IP.
According to statistics, 41 tourist areas monitored in Xiangxi received a total of 1.8972 million tourists, and generated a revenue of 84.807 million yuan from February 10 to 17, a year-on-year increase of 66.15% and 41.11% respectively.
On February 12, a wonderful intangible cultural heritage folk performance “Fire Dragon Dance” was presented in Liaojiaqiao Town of Fenghuang County, at which more than ten men lifted a dragon with more than ten meters long, running and jumping in the crowd, attracting applause and cheers from citizens and tourists.
On February 13, the hundred lions dance performance was staged by 70 lion dance teams from the border areas of Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing, and Hubei provinces in Dehang Miao Village, Aizhai Town, Jishou City.
On February 15, the final of the Village Chef Competition, which is the first national rural cultural food program themed the village chef, was held at Youxi Ecological Square of Baojing County, with 10 participating teams competing for the final “gold medal village chef”.
On the site, chefs displayed their unique cooking skills, and some even blindfolded their eyes to showcase their cutting skills. Meanwhile, the cheerleading teams composed of villagers also sang Tujia folk songs and performed Tujia hand-waving dances.
Fenghuang Ancient Town, a new 5A scenic area, has become a popular tourist destination. At night, with bright lights on both sides of the Tuojiang River, visitors strolled through the town. At the Beimen Pier, tourists queued up to experience the night tour on the Tuojiang River.
In addition, during the Spring Festival holiday, the lantern riddle guessing activity and the Dragon Year Zodiac Cultural Relics Exhibition were launched in the Xiangxi Museum, and the Xiangxi rare stone exhibition and the paper cuttings lecture were held in the Xiangxi Library. The special performance of Chenhe High-pitched Tune was staged in Luxi County, and the activity of celebrating the Tujia New Year was carried out in Furong Town of Yongshun County.
Intangible cultural heritage items played a significant role in the rich cultural and tourism activities of Xiangxi Prefecture. Among them, the “Fire Dragon Dance”, the “Miao Hundred Lions Dance”, and “Qianzhou Spring Festival celebrations” are representative projects of intangible cultural heritage in Hunan Province and also traditional cultural activities of the Miao people in Xiangxi during the Spring Festival holiday, providing citizens and tourists with a rich “Spring Festival cultural feast”.
