Longduan Street Festival of Romances
Longduan Street is a grand festival popular among the Zuangs in Guangnan and Funing areas in Yunnan Province. The "street" here actually refers to field dam, and the festival calls on the people to gather in the vast fields. The festival is held in the third lunar month and lasts for three to five days.
During the festival, the Zhuangs will put on the traditional Zhuang opera on a provisional open theater, with the noise of firecracker and the beat of gongs and drums. Young people are the most vibrant group during the festival. They come to know each other by dancing and singing together and even vote for “the man of the year” and “the woman of the year” according to their looks and talents.
The festival is a great opportunity for the Zhuangs to express their feelings of love and look for their life partner. When a young man has a crush on a woman, he would fire a question by singing, and if the woman likes him too, she would take the question. The singing conversation will continue through the whole night until dawn. Men will give jewelry, cosmetics or even money to women they like, and women would give food and shoes made in cloth in return.
