| Travel Guide to Guilin, China |
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Gui Opera
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Gui Opera was invented during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and later became a popular art form in Guilin and its neighbor regions to the north.
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Cai Tune
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Cai Tune in Guilin is the earliest popular folk opera in this region. Male performers use colorful fans, while the female performers walk in small steps with colorful handkerchiefs. The play involves singing and dancing at the same time.
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Folk Art Forms
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The folk art forms in Guilin mainly include Wenchang, Yugu, Dagu, Linglingluo, and Tanci. With special Guilin characteristics, these folk art forms are performed in Guilin local dialect and are melted with folk songs in South China, Dagu in North china and Tanci in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
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Plate-shoes Dance, Zhuang Nationality
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The Zhuang people are original inhabitants of Guangxi, and the plate-shoes dance is one of their artistic inventions. The performance is usually done by more than one person to reflect the teamwork spirit.
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Lusheng Dance, Miao Nationality
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Lusheng is a type of reed-pipe wind instrument, and is very popular in the Southern regions of China. A famous saying among the Miao ethnic goes like this: one cannot resist a temptation to dance when he hears the music of Lusheng. When there are guests, the boys will play Lusheng and the girls will dance to welcome them.
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Ziyuan River Lantern and Song Festival
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Held from July 13th to 14th of the Chinese Lunar Calender, the River Lantern and Song Festival is the traditional festival of Ziyuan County which is 107km away from Guilin city. There are several performances to celebrate the festival and the river lanterns are set afloat at night to pray for good fortune. After the river lantern show, the artistic performances and cross-singing contest will continue all night.
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Longsheng Red Clothes Festival
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The Red Clothes Festival, also known as Zhaina, is held every March 15th in the lunar calender in the town of Sishui. The Red Yao people celebrate this festival by gathering in Sishui Street and exchange farming tools and agricultural products, buy daily necessities, or visit their friends and relatives. Featured folk sports such as bamboo pole balancing, tug-of-wars, and rooster fighting, are very interesting to watch.
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Da Youcha
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Youcha, a kind of sweetened gruel, is the staple dish of Dong minority as well as other groups in northern Guilin. It is made of tea, fried corn or rice, then boil with Ciba, beans, and peanuts. Youcha is eaten with shreded ginger, chopped green garlic, pepper powder, and cordate houttuynia. Meat Youcha is made with shrimps, small fishes, sausages, pork liver, and lean meat. Every September 15th in lunar calendar, the young people of Dong minority drink 15 cups of Youcha, and they drink and sing at the same time.
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Gongcheng Tanxi
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Tanxi, also known as Ghost Opera, is developed from Tan dance. Tanxi is different from ordinary operas as it has no special or standardized structure. Normally, Tanxi is performed by one to three persons dressed in colorful costumes and masks in order to pray and give sacrifice to the gods and ancestors.
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Long Drum Dance, Yao Ethnicity
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Long Drum Dance is a traditional art form of the Yao people. The drum is thin in the middle with the patterns of flowers, birds, dragons and phoenix painted on the outside. Some long drum has bells on both ends and in the middle. When they bang the drum, the bells ring in harmony with the drum's beats.
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Guilin Mountain and River Festival
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Guilin Mountain and River Festival is a grand ceremony introduced by Guilin Municipal Government. The festival incorporates the mountain and river sightseeing with the performance of local folk lore and traditional artistic performances to give visitors the impression about Guilin's beauty and history.
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Dragon Boat Festival
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The Dragon Boat Contest is held every three years on May 5th of Chinese lunar calendar. In the event, the venue which is the banks of the Lijiang River would be flocked by avid spectators, and the deafening sound of dragon boat songs, bells and drums would fill the air.
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This article is authored and copyrighted by
Royal Exclusive Travel
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| Destination Guide to China |
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