Ningming Song Fair

Guangxi
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The song fair is a traditional folk entertainment activity of the Zhuang nationality in this county, characterized by young men and women singing and talking about love. This custom has a long history, and there is no confirmation when it began. It is held in spring, summer and autumn every year, mostly in the second and third months of the lunar calendar, regularly and at a fixed location, and each fair lasts one to two days. At that time, young men and women dressed up and flocked to the fair from all directions. Merchants, butchers, wine sellers, and cooked food vendors were waiting. In the past, some song fairs still had activities such as singing colorful tunes, cockfighting, thrush fighting, and setting off fireworks. Today's song fairs still have singing colorful tunes, ball games, and singing competitions. Young and old also go to take advantage of the excitement. The song fair is crowded with people, usually thousands of people, and as many as tens of thousands. The song fairs in various places in this county have their own characteristics. In the Zhai'an area, young men and women from afar arrive at the fair one day early, and the villagers prepare cakes and flour to entertain the guests. They sing songs all night long, and the night of the fair enters the singing 0. In places like Zhilang and Tongmian, after the daytime fairs, young people disperse to nearby villages to sing songs at night. In the Tongmian area, after a woman takes a fancy to a singing partner at the fair, she suddenly takes away the man's umbrella. The man understands and follows the woman to sing. In the Tingliang area, singing is done during the day and ends at dusk. Before singing at the fairs in various places, men and women each look for a partner, and only sing when they find one. There are about ten men and women in each team, and two people with better voices sing in harmony. During the daytime singing, the man hands the woman an umbrella, and the woman opens it to cover her face, and then they go to the shade of the tree to sing. At the beginning, the man and woman are at a certain distance from each other, but as they sing closer, the woman's umbrella to cover her face is gradually raised, and finally they are within reach, and their affection grows stronger. They sing until dusk, and give each other gifts and part. In the village, the woman sings at night in the inner room or courtyard, and the man sings back to each other through the door, window or fence, and usually sings until dawn. If one party leaves in the middle of the night, he will be accused of being contemptuous and heartless. Some people sing until they are in love, then they go to a secluded place to talk about love in pairs. At dawn, they exchange gifts, sing farewell songs, and say goodbye to each other. The singing competition has a certain procedure. Usually, they sing a meeting song first, then a drinking song, a questioning song, a praise song, a close friendship song, and finally a farewell song. The content of the songs covers astronomy and geography, and tells of the lingering love. Most of the songs are composed and sung by the singers. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)

Intangible culture related to the heritage

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