Guzhangjie in Xijiang Village, Guizhou - 2010

Guizhou -- 2010

Guzhangjie Celebration of the Xijiang Miao Ethnic Minorities 
The most auspicious festival held once every thirteen years!

贵州雷山县, 西江鼓藏节日

Guzhangjie, also known as the Tibetan Drum Festival is the most auspicious festival of the Miao ethnic minorities in Leishan county, Guizhou province.

Xijiang Miao village is popularly known as "Miao stockade village of one thousand households." 

This festival is held once every thirteen (13) years, set according to the Miao ethnic calendar. Traditionally, when they have set the auspicious date of the celebration, it was to last thirteen days for all Miao ethnic families and their extended families. 

I did not have to wait thirteen years for this Guzhang festival when I travelled to Guizhou the year before in 2009 to explore the ancient ethnic villages of the Dong, Miao, Basha and one little-known Miao subgroup, the Gejia in a small village. They were all located in the mountainous regions in eastern Guizhou province. 

When in Xijiang village, a chance meeting with a village folk had then encouraged me to visit again in 2010 to celebrate this auspicious festival with them. 

This unpredictable journey in 2009 and the one that followed in 2010 turned out to be an experience of a lifetime!

For the first time in the history of this festival , it was organized by the Leishan county cultural team, on the largest scale ever and  the longest event celebration from November 9 to 14 and, the final day ceremony on November 20. 

The diverse Miao ethnic communities -- the different groups and subgroups in Guizhou province came together as one main body in Xijiang village to celebrate this auspicious occasion.  

The day of opening ceremony celebration on November 10 was one explosive, colourful festivity that was absolutely 'wow'! It was marked by sounds of drums, flute, songs and dance of the diverse groups witnessed by a tightly packed crowd at the village square. 

The village head leader lit the firecrackers.

The Miao women then took out the prepared glutinous rice balls from the baskets. Each rice ball was neatly placed on a piece of leaf. It was later served to the leaders and honoured guests at the ceremony. 

Costumes of the different groups of the Miao ethnic minorities were incredibly dazzling. Each group has developed a unique costume tradition so diverse in styles and colours from the headdress to embroidered and brocaded costume adorned with lavish silver jewelleries. 

There were new, uniquely designed costumes made for this auspicious festival.

The back view of costume adorned with silver jewellery

Capturing the artful back view of the embroidered costume, with brocade and  silver jewellery headdress

The Miao women folks in their charming embroidered costumes and, their 'shiny black' and 'shiny indigo' cotton garments. 

Miao folks in their beautiful attires taking a break at the Wind and Rain bridge.

The Miao women still maintain its traditional textile craftwork -- the fine embroideries and ancient cloth dyeing with the lustrous finish. 

Traditionally, the Miao women did not use draft paper to create designs on cotton textiles before they start their embroidery work. They learned this art form from the last generation and generations before them at a very young age. Soul art that were so lifelike -- the images of animals, birds, fishes and flowers created that were inspired from their natural environment. 

A Miao ethnic man with a traditional hat

Beautiful Miao children in the different headdresses

An opening ceremony was held on November 9 at the town square where Leishan county officials and invited media representatives were present. 

I had stayed on in Xijiang village to join in the festival in the morning that I found to be more interesting. I went to the town square to capture shots of the Miao folks there after the opening ceremony. 

After the ceremony, most ethnic groups stayed behind to have their photographs taken by their family and friends and, upon requests from visitors, they gladly obliged as well. 

The children in their most splendid costumes

Baby carrier -- embroidery and appliqué on cotton

The Miao ethnic men costumes and the variety of traditional musical bamboo instruments

The variant traditional musical bamboo instruments

A Miao ethnic man enjoying a smoke --  the most amazing snake-shaped long pipe I have seen!

The Miao ethnic folks all come together to celebrate the Guzhangjie by cooking up a rustic feast in Xijiang village. 

The custom of slaughtering pigs and cattle is a ceremony that is usually carried out on the third day

They would make glutinous rice on the fourth day and would carry out some fun activities like bull fighting or known as, 'pulling the cow and horse' event in the days that follow. Feasting and drinking are continuously enjoyed throughout the festive period.

The traditional Miao feast -- the  simple yet interesting dishes that were shared by families, extended families and friends at the long tables. 

The Miao put on their best traditional costumes; followed the customs as they had for generations although rather modernized now -- the drums ceremony, the slaughter of pigs and cattle ceremony, the traditional folk dance and songs and, the enjoyable family feasts with plenty of rice wine had been an eye-opening look into this amazing festival! 

The next Guzhangjie celebration to follow will be in thirteen years, in 2023.

Getting there : Public buses are available from Kaili city to Xijiang village. No cars are allowed inside the village during this period. Most of the Miao's extended families and friends carpooled, parked their vehicles at the designated car parks. 

From Xijiang village, you could opt to take the local bus into the town, then take a taxi from the bus station to the town square where events were also held. 

Accommodation : It helps to book in advance or camp at designated areas in Xijiang village. Although there were many guesthouses, inns and one newly completed hotel available, all rooms were taken on the first three days. There were no homestays available -- the Miao families have to accommodate their extended families and friends. The last option is to stay in Kaili town that is about 35 kilometres from Xijiang village for the day. The journey by private vehicle takes about over an hour. 
(November 2010)