May 8th in Fuli Town

One of the most interesting local festivals in Yangshuo is May 8th in Fuli Town. This festival is (obviously) held on May 8th of the lunar calendar every year, in order to commemorate the legendary Godfather (Uncle Pankao) and Godmother (A Ma). This is especially a grand festival to the people who gave birth to boys. So local people also call the festival “Zai Jie”. It is said that Uncle Pankao and A Ma could bring happiness and make the local people give birth to boys to continue their family name. So the local residents assemble to make sacrifice to the Godfather and Godmother, and then parade in the street, beating drums, playing lion-dance and rolling colorful floats.

Yangshuo families will make special local dishes, such as eggplant, stuffed snails, balsam pears, and peppers to celebrate this great day. This festival will last one week, so many activities are held. Wandering the streets to enjoy recreations, watching films under the open sky, and participating in various sports (basketball, chess, tug-of-war, etc). People will get together to enjoy everything. In recent years, local people have been exhibiting their handicrafts such as painted fans and embroideries. These handicrafts are also very popular in Yangshuo. To some degree, this festival is the promotion of the communication for Yangshuo culture.