Liuyueliu festival (June 6th Festival) is an important traditional festival of the Bouyei people in Guiyang. On every sixth day of the sixth lunar month every year, thousands of the Bouyei people in Guiyang and nearby gather on the beautiful banks of the Huaxi River. They enjoy themselves either going through the dense forest, or walking around the flower beds, or going boating, or blowing tree leaves, or singing folk songs.
The festival comes from a legend like this:
Long, long ago, a beautiful Bouyei girl made an embroidery picture of green mountains and lovely waters with flowers in four seasons. At the sight of this treasured embroidery, the fiend had an evil plan to take it away. After seven days and nights of hard fight, the girl and villagers found it difficult to repulse the fiend's troop. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, seeing the treasure would be taken away, the girl cast it into the air. Instantly, the picture changed into the beautiful mountains and waters in Huaxi while the fiend died of anger, turning into a pile of tangled stones sinking to the bottom of the Huaxi River. Later, in memory of this Bouyei girl who created the beautiful Huaxi, on every sixth day of the sixth lunar month, people gather on the banks of Huaxi River singing and dancing to show their respect. As time passes on, Liuyueliu festival is formed.
