Special activities on Festivals

  The biggest festivals of Jiuzhaigou is the Spring Festivals. A few days before, women begin to prepare food and clothes for it. Every family start to clean their house, hang on auspicious paintings and pictures of patron saints, wishing to each other the best of a happy and propitious new year. On the first and second days of the Festival, the household activity is mainly the family-reunion dinner. On the third day, there are public activities, like the dragon and lion dances. In the 11 th day, large-scaled and lively events take place for the Spring Festival, being organized by local entertainment organs.

                                      Carrying Water for the New Year  
    At the eve of the Spring Festival, Tibetan Families go to the lakeside lo fetch water at the time when the village cock gives off its first crow. Upon hearing this crow, villagers rush 10 the water source, burn joss sticks, and then carry the first bail of sacred water For the New Year, which is used for the Family reunion dinner.

                                           Sangyan(Pure Smoke)
    "Sang" in Tibetan language means "purity". Sangyan, the pure smoke, is also called "smoke perfume". lt origi- nated from Ali Region, Tibet , and has been a religious ritual for over 3,00(1 years. It is traditionally used for the ceremony of forming an alliance, with implication that Heaven witnessed the vows taken by alliance parties. It is also used by ordinary families for blessing to each other, or to family members, friends and relatives. The pure smoke is also seen in sacred places like divine mountains, altars and pagodas. In auspicious days, villages are filled with strong perfumed smoke that is lingering in tile air and rolling high up.

                              Ousting Monsters at the Eve of the Spring Festival
    Local people hold that, All bad days of a family are wrought by evils and monsters that must be ousted. There are various rituals. In the afternoon at the New Year's eve, men fetch, from lake banks, small cobble-stones back home. In the evening, they Lire the first lo enter die house with curses on monsters, while hitting the stones all over the house corners. The remaining stones together with iron needles that arc believed to be monsters, are buried at the lower end of the house staircase, meaning that all these monsters will never get in. After the ritual, children will go the lakeside to splash water lo frighten monsters away. Yet, this mon- ster-ousting ritual has become, instead of still being awesome, a light-hearted cultural event.

                                         Inviting the Moutain God
    On the 15th of January of the Chinese lunar calendar, all the villages will organize an activity 10 invite the Mountain God, with two girls selected in light of com plicated astronomical procedures. It can take place both in daytime or at night. The main tool is a Y-shaped tree crotch. At the beginning, villagers gather around in front of the crotch, listening to chanting of the priest. If the crotch in the hand of the girls keeps waving, it means the priest's chanting is effective; if not, he must be a fake, and a new priest will be invited to replace him. People will cry out, "Mountain God, can you tell us whether stones will roll down from the mountain? If yes, this way to the left; if not, this way to the right Mountain God, can you tell us whether the mudflow will happen? If yes, this way to the left; if not, this way to the right. Mountain God, can you tell us whether Jiuzhaigou will have good weather for our crops? If yes, this way to the left; if not, this way to the right, Mountain God, can you tell us whether our young men can marry their sweethearts? If yes, this way to the left; if not, this way to the right. And villagers will ask Moun tain God all the questions they can think of, like their health, their fortune and their learning. Some may be lieve in the answer, others regard it as a traditional en tertainment activity.