Although there are only some 107,200 people, the Maonan ethnic group, which is mainly distributed in the mountainous areas of Northwest Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, South China, is well known for its long history and splendid culture.
The Bird Flying Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, is the local people's most characteristic and interesting festival. When the Spring Festival comes, every family prepares calamus leaves and on New Year's Eve, they knit birds, such as partridges, swallows, cormorants, and thrushes. Then they place sticky rice, beans, and sesame in the hollow stomach of the birds. After the birds are steamed, they fasten them to a long sugar cane and hang them in front of burning incense. Each child receives a "bird" to satisfy a craving for delicious food. Women who are married and have babies return to their mothers' homes and pick up "birds," hoping that their babies are lovely and high-spirited.
A legend says that there was a priest who had a beautiful and bright only daughter known for knitting birds with bamboo strips and calamus leaves. She fell in love with a young man and they planned to get married during the Spring Festival. Wanting to test his future son-in-law, the priest asked him to complete the task of spreading millet seeds on the farmland before dusk before their wedding day. However, the lad spread glutinous rice seeds in haste instead of millet seeds. The priest ordered him to collect all the seeds, which was a big problem. The priest's daughter told her fiancé to fetch the birds they had knitted. Then she blew to the birds and whispered to her fiancé. As soon as the lad took the birds to the farmland, the birds flew around and collected the glutinous rice seeds and he was able to complete task perfectly before dusk. The priest was very glad to see this, but he told his son-in-law, "I must spend the Spring Festival together with my daughter, so she will marry you on the 15th day of the first lunar month." From then on, the custom of flying birds has been popular.
The Bird Flying Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, is the local people's most characteristic and interesting festival. When the Spring Festival comes, every family prepares calamus leaves and on New Year's Eve, they knit birds, such as partridges, swallows, cormorants, and thrushes. Then they place sticky rice, beans, and sesame in the hollow stomach of the birds. After the birds are steamed, they fasten them to a long sugar cane and hang them in front of burning incense. Each child receives a "bird" to satisfy a craving for delicious food. Women who are married and have babies return to their mothers' homes and pick up "birds," hoping that their babies are lovely and high-spirited.
A legend says that there was a priest who had a beautiful and bright only daughter known for knitting birds with bamboo strips and calamus leaves. She fell in love with a young man and they planned to get married during the Spring Festival. Wanting to test his future son-in-law, the priest asked him to complete the task of spreading millet seeds on the farmland before dusk before their wedding day. However, the lad spread glutinous rice seeds in haste instead of millet seeds. The priest ordered him to collect all the seeds, which was a big problem. The priest's daughter told her fiancé to fetch the birds they had knitted. Then she blew to the birds and whispered to her fiancé. As soon as the lad took the birds to the farmland, the birds flew around and collected the glutinous rice seeds and he was able to complete task perfectly before dusk. The priest was very glad to see this, but he told his son-in-law, "I must spend the Spring Festival together with my daughter, so she will marry you on the 15th day of the first lunar month." From then on, the custom of flying birds has been popular.
Source:
http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/115Traditions4056.html
