The Small lower Miao of Nankai Village, near Shuicheng in southwest Guizhou, gather for their Lusheng festival on the 15 th day of the second lunar month. Family groups walk at lest 15 km to the festival ground, washing in the nearest stream en route. They bring their own provisions, maize cobs, coal and twigs for fuel and a giant umbrella to keep off the tai. Rice and barbecued fatty pork are cooked over an open fire. The women wear their best clothes and are often dressed in two or four layers of skirts and jackets to indicate their wealth. Their hair is piled high with huge quantities of red wool in an enormous bouffant style.
The dancing begins at about 12:00 am, led by the boys. A girl shows her liking for a boy by giving him her jacket: at he end of the evening each boy will return all jackets apart from the on given to him by his favorite. Some vendors also sell sugar cane an other candies or deep fried potatoes on the slope. This festival also provides an opportunity for young married girls speak to their mothers about their husbands. Girls with unhappy marriages, will complain about their spouses and can be seen crying and sobbing to their mothers. |