Songkran
April 12-18 is the New Year's Day (Songkran Festival) in 1383 of the Dai calendar. In response to the requirements of the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic and avoiding large-scale gatherings of people, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture held a series of celebration activities through online live broadcasting, with more than 200,000 people watching online and spending the festival together.
Manyuan Village, Menghan Town, Jinghong City, is a Dai village where the series of folk activities of the Songkran Festival are broadcast live. The village is full of trees, phoenix blossoms, and the villagers are dressed in festive costumes. The shouts of "rushing to swing" on both sides of the road into the village are continuous, and traditional homemade delicacies such as Dai rice noodles, swinging chickens, and glutinous ropes are placed all over the market; elephant foot drums and gongs play the ancient rhythm, touring the entire village and carrying a high-rise team to dance; on the rural stage at the mouth of the village, there are legends and stories of the history of Songkran Festival; Zhangha singers, using Dai and ancient rhythms, sing their own songs, showing the ancestral training and family training of the Dai people, praising the well-off life and the new appearance of dai townships; the shouts of "water-water-water-water-water". Accompanied by the splash of water that spreads through the sky, happiness is transmitted. "On this day, even the white clouds in the blue sky can scoop out water to bless the Dai people." Our village also passed on this blessing to people who watch Songkran on the Internet. Villager Yan Guang said.
It is reported that in the series of activities of the "Cloud Songkran Festival", there are also literary and artistic performances, online prayers, and water dances. Through the rich content of activities, the essence of national culture, the style of the sons and daughters of Dai townships, and the wishes of the Dai people are conveyed.
Yunnan network reporter Zhao Yutong photo report