Starting this week, everyone in China will envy this place!

"On March 3rd of the lunar calendar, we climb green mountains, as songs fill the air with the aroma of five-colored rice!" Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, Guangxi welcomes its own "Golden Week," when the entire region immerses in a carnival atmosphere filled with folk songs and the fragrance of glutinous rice. Let's discover the unique ways to experience the March 3 Festival and enjoy this spring feast that combines nature, folk customs, and cuisine!

🔥About the March 3 Festival:
Dating back to the pre-Qin period's Shangsi Festival, the March 3 Festival is now a national intangible cultural heritage. It's not just a celebration for the Zhuang people to honor ancestors and find love through song, but also a historical testament to ethnic legends and customs. This festival embodies deep ethnic characteristics, symbolizing national unity and cultural inheritance, showcasing the Zhuang people's rich cultural heritage and unique folk traditions.

🔴A Folk Feast from Bagui
✅Folk Songs: A "Musical Feast" of Thousands
During the March 3 Festival, song fairs flourish. In places like Longji Rice Terraces in Guilin, Yizhou in Heche, and Rongshui in Liuzhou, folk song competitions are held everywhere. From exploratory songs to praise songs and pledge songs, young men and women express their feelings through singing, choosing partners through music, sometimes even determining their lifelong partnerships with a thrown embroidered ball. These song fairs are not just acoustic feasts but romantic cultural celebrations.

✅Five-Colored Glutinous Rice: An Auspicious Culinary Symbol
Made with natural plant dyes like red-blue grass, maple leaves, and yellow ginger, the five-colored glutinous rice symbolizes abundant harvests. Each soft, sweet bite carries rich flavors. It's not only essential for ceremonies but also a spring delicacy. This rice embodies harvest prayers and represents both delicious taste and good fortune in traditional festivals.

✅Competitive Celebrations: Igniting Spring Enthusiasm
"Flower cannon grabbing" is like Eastern rugby, with the cannon representing good fortune; catching an embroidered ball from your loved one leads to romance; egg-knocking competitions bring good luck to winners; bamboo pole jumping tests agility and coordination; while the Lusheng dance energizes the spring atmosphere with lively melodies. These traditional competitive activities, full of joy and passion, are essential highlights of the March 3 Festival.

🔴Exploring Nanning: More Ways to Experience the March 3 Festival
✅China-ASEAN Intangible Cultural Heritage Week
⏰Time: March 29-April 2
Location: Folk Song Lake, Xinhui Academy, Guangxi University for Nationalities
The event brings together intangible cultural heritage performance groups and inheritors from ASEAN countries and various regions to Nanning. Activities include opening performances, heritage markets, demonstrations, themed exchanges, and campus heritage exhibitions.

✅Nanning "Folk Song Street"
⏰Time: March 29-April 1
Location: Three Streets and Two Alleys, Folk Song Lake, Mixc, Mount Qingxiu, etc.
Centered on Minzu Avenue, Nanning will create diverse urban-themed song fairs featuring national trends, intangible heritage, fashion, and leisure. Events include national trend parades, heritage markets, and folk song flash mobs, featuring artists from Nanning's international sister cities, "Four Seasons Village Songs" singers, and folk singers and bands from across Guangxi. A "Song Fair Bus" will connect various festival locations. Special performances include interactive street dance by child star Fu Junxi and Little Tangerine.

✅2025 "Vibrant Night Guangxi" Carnival Opening Ceremony and Nanning Night Market Main Event
⏰Time: March 30-April 1
Location: Yongzhou Ancient City·Three Streets and Two Alleys, Beautiful Yong River·Yongzhou Ancient Charm Scenic Area
Themed "Tourism Enjoyment Year, Vibrant Night Guangxi," Nanning's main venue presents "1+5" series activities. Events include Yong-style markets, food tasting, night entertainment, night tours, and dynamic parties.

✅Nanning Fire Show Special March 3 Festival Activities
⏰Time: March 28-April 6
Location: Water Market
The event features spectacular fire performances including fire balls, fire sticks, fire knives, charcoal flower dance, fire hexagram, fire meteors, water iron flower shows, and water fire pot displays. Additionally, there will be dazzling drone light shows.

✅"Guangxi March 3·Bagui Carnival" Closing Ceremony and "Songs of the Earth·2025"
⏰Time: April 28, 20:00
Location: Mount Qingxiu
The event will feature national trend electronic music parties, 2025 March 3 Festival highlights, "Love in Nanning" moments, and a grand closing ceremony. Famous domestic and international art and music groups will gather to perform folk songs.

🔴Embark on a Spring Culinary Journey
✅Five-Colored Glutinous Rice: A specialty made with natural plant dyes, combining glutinous fragrance with herbal aromas, served with steamed pork, Chinese sausage, and mung bean paste.
✅Laoyou Rice Noodles: A regional-level intangible cultural heritage and popular Nanning snack. Authentic Laoyou noodles are rich in flavor with abundant seasonings, fragrant soup, and sour-spicy minced garlic, preserved black beans, and pickled bamboo shoots.
✅Luosifen: Guangxi's iconic dish that's gained nationwide fame. Paired with duck feet, fried eggs, and soy milk, its sour and spicy flavors are irresistible!
✅Sour Snacks: Green mangoes with salt and pepper, pineapples with chili - a unique "taste code" of Guangxi people where fruit's sweetness meets spiciness.

The Guangxi March 3 Festival is a thousand-year-old folk cultural invitation, connecting folk customs, natural scenery, and local flavors through song. Gather your friends and set out for this adventure!
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