On June 6th, 2016, “The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity - the Miluo River Dragon Boat Festival Custom Theme Cultural Activity Week” started in Miluo City, Hunan Province. Colorful customs and 17 intangible cultural heritage projects at all levels were exhibited at the Miluo River International Dragon Boat Racing Center which bring the audience a cultural feast of integration of traditional culture and modern art.

“The Miluo River Dragon Boat Festival Custom” is a kind of national intangible cultural heritage. Dating back to the fifth day of the fifth lunar month,278 BC, QU Yuan, a famous poet who was also concerned about the fate of his government, had jumped into the Miluo River. It made Miluo River Dragon Boat Festival tightly united with a river, a world cultural celebrity and a millennium temple, and derived a dragon boat race. Therefore, Miluo City won a good reputation as “the source of Dragon Boat Festival, the hometown of the dragon boat”. Nowadays, the original and the ecological culture of the Dragon Boat Festival coexist in Miluo.

At 8 am, a boisterous crowd gathered at “the Miluo River Dragon Boat Festival Customs” Exhibition Area. Visitors watched and experienced various distinctive customs, such as drinking realgar wine and dotting the dragon boat. Aiguo XIONG, a 55-year-old inheritor, made and performed the shadow puppets with three assistants which drew the audience bursts of applause. Mingshan ZHOU, an inheritor of steelyard, showed “Zhou Steelyard Making Skills” after three generations. Huiming ZHOU, a 63-year-old inheritor of “Bamboo Plaiting Craft”, gave a live performance of plaiting bamboo baskets, bamboo crates and dustpans. Plenty of tourists felt that they were back to the childhood.

The Miluo River Dragon Boat Festival Custom Theme Cultural Activity Week held simultaneously 4 large mass theatrical festivals to show the unique charm of the Miluo River Dragon Boat Festival in a variety of literary forms.

Time:2016-06-08

Source:Voices Online