The Grand Festival of Naxi Nationality: Lijiang July Festival

Lijiang is one of the tourist attractions in China. Lijiang July Festival is an important festival for Naxi people and one of the national festivals in China. It is held in the middle of July in the summer calendar, and lasts for one to two weeks. It mainly deals with livestock such as mules, horses and cows, so it is called the July Mule and Horse Festival. Come with me to learn about the Lijiang meeting in July.

Naxi mule and horse fair. Popular in Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. Every July, the lunar July is held in the wilderness behind Lion Mountain in Lijiang County. Every time there are nearly ten thousand mules and horses on the market, including bronzes and woodwork. Businessmen from northwest Yunnan, northeast Yunnan, Jiangnan, Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, Tibet and even Nepal made a special trip to buy mules and horses, and also brought local products to trade. There are also horse racing, singing Yunnan opera, singing folk songs and other cultural and sports activities.

Mule and Horse Festival is a traditional folk festival of Naxi nationality in Lijiang. It is held every year in the middle of July of the lunar calendar for a week. Mainly engaged in mules, horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock, but also exchange local products. Farmers from Dali, Jianchuan, Heqing, Zhongdian and Yongsheng all came to buy mules and horses and Lijiang bronzes, and tens of thousands of mules and horses went on the market. Various entertainment activities will be held during the festival, among which horse racing and performance are the most popular holiday contents.

Naxi July Festival has a long history and is well known. By then, farmers all over the country will not only trade mules and horses, but also bring local local products to the meeting for sale. Even if it rains continuously, the meeting will be unimpeded. On-site acting, off-site horse racing, very lively. In the evening, the inns and horse shops in the city are full, and singers from all over the country sing the songs of Gucci until late at night.

During the meeting in July, colorful flags fluttered at the venue and the Songqing archway was erected at the intersection. People help the old and bring the young, bustling, like a flowing river. The Naxi girls are wearing beautiful shawls decorated with stars and the moon and walking in rows. The boys rode bicycles, one after another, flying like a long dragon. On the stage, every day, prefectural and county literary teams, rural amateur propaganda teams and amateur drum bands perform folk songs and dances and create new dramas.

July will be a carnival festival for Naxi people. During the day, people rushed to the meeting, visit the venue, watch exhibitions and performances, and the flow of people from the street to the venue for 3 kilometers never stopped. Today's Naxi July Fair has truly become a frontier exhibition with a brand-new look, and an exchange meeting of ethnic friendship, showing its unique characteristics more and more.

The July meeting has a long history and is well known. It is said that the ancestors of Naxi people worshipped Lian, endured the flood for the rest of their lives, met and fell in love with Princess Tiandi, broke through many obstacles and finally got married. When they created the world from the sky, they also sent the horse market in the Heavenly Palace back to their hometown, so Lijiang had a sudden horse festival. In fact, Lijiang has been known as the "land of flowers and horses" since ancient times. Horses and Sichuan merchants have long been exchanged for salt and iron here. There are many wonderful descriptions about the life of raising horses in Dongba Sutra written in Naxi hieroglyphics.

Lijiang horse is well-proportioned, with small eyes, short and thick neck, strong and muscular, strong in four forces, hard in hoof, hardworking, light in gait and good at climbing mountains and crossing mountains. Suitable for carrying, riding and pulling, it is not only widely used in the local area, but also exported to many places every year. In the Ming Dynasty, due to the needs of military affairs and transportation, excellent donkey breeds were introduced from Shanxi, accompanied by good local horses, which suddenly developed. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Mu Tusi sent local horses to Beijing to pay tribute.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a sudden cattle and horse trade at the Longwang Temple meeting in Old Town of Lijiang every March. In the early years of the Republic of China, on the basis of horse racing in various places, the July horse racing conference was held on the hillside west of Lion Mountain in Old Town of Lijiang. After liberation, with the prosperity and development of the national economy, the ancient July will be more prosperous and become a new grand event for trading horses, exchanging materials and spreading culture. With the expansion of the scale, the venue has also moved to a wider Red Star exchange venue in the southeast of the county.

The above conclusion is what I brought to you about the July meeting in Lijiang. I wonder if it will help everyone?