Guilin China:When "March Third Festival" meets "Water-Sprinkling Festival"

来源：Guilin China

When March Third Festival meets Water-Sprinkling Festival (chinadaily.com.cn)

International students participate in the event of the Water-Splashing Festival

Guangxi is connected to ASEAN countries by its landscape, and the friendly relations between them have a long history. In recent years, Guangxi has fully leveraged its geographical and location advantages adjacent to ASEAN countries and actively carried out international cultural exchange activities, established cultural exchange and cooperation platforms, and extensively carried out cultural and humanistic exchange activities. The Water-Sprinkling Festival, also known as the Songkran Festival, is the most important traditional festival in Southeast Asia. It receives much attention and attention from local people just like Guangxi's March Third Festival. Since the March Third Festival and the Songkran Festival are close in time, this event aims to strengthen cultural exchanges between Guangxi and ASEAN countries, enhance understanding of each other's culture, and transform from being connected by the landscape to being connected by the people's hearts, thereby deepening cultural exchanges between Guangxi and ASEAN countries.

On April 20th, the third international cultural festival for overseas students in China and the first international lawn music festival of Guilin University of Electronic Technology with the theme When 'March Third Festival' meets 'Water-Sprinkling Festival' was held at the International Academic and Cultural Exchange Center of Huajiang Campus. The opening ceremony of the event was kicked off by Nigerian student Enli's song Your Answer. Traditional folk cultural programs from China and abroad such as the Lao national dance Blessing the Guest, the Chinese traditional dance Ambush on Ten Sides, the Cambodian folk song The Flower of Siem Reap, and the Chinese Sichuan opera Face-Changing were performed one after another, and Chinese and foreign teachers and students began to experience ethnic sports projects such as bamboo pole dancing, throwing embroidery balls, and board shoe racing and join the water-splashing carnival. At the first international lawn music festival, classic popular songs from China and abroad took turns on stage, accompanied by exotic dances and explosive Raps, turning the scene into a sea of joy.

International students from Guilin University of Electronic Technology take a photo with Huang Wanqiu, the daughter of the actress who played Liu Sanjie

From April 21 to 23, the school organized overseas students to visit Zhongyong Township and Wantian Yao Township in Lingui district, Guilin. The students learn folk songs from He Yanyun, the daughter of Huang Wanqiu, who played Liu Sanjie in the movie Liu Sanjie,. They sang with local residents, experienced the water drifting on a single bamboo raft, and tasted the Quangui Banquet long table banquet. At the invitation of local Yao people, everyone gathered around the bonfire to sing and dance enthusiastically, and danced the Unity Dance and sang the Unity Song, celebrating the national festival together in a march-style, immersive, and interactive experience, allowing students to experience the vivid scene of people of all ethnic groups embracing each other tightly like pomegranate seeds.

At the event, 12 former Miss Tourism World winners dressed in costumes with strong ethnic characteristics attended the banquet, showcasing Chinese ethnic culture to the world and demonstrating cultural confidence. On the evening of the 22nd, our international students competed on the same stage with the Miss Tourism World and Guilin Flower Fairy contestants, deeply integrating various national and local cultures and contributing to the cultural construction of Guilin, a world-class tourist city.

International students experience the Yao ethnic group's sport of dragon boat racing on land

International friends excitedly experienced the folk customs of the Yao ethnic group, forming teams with the local Yao people to compete in traditional sports such as throwing embroidered balls, spinning tops, and dry-land dragon boat races.

It's my initial encounter with the March Third festival in Lingui, and the most profound feeling and experience for me is the clothing and food, which have brought us many fresh experiences, said Bach, a Pakistani international student.

On the 23rd, the teachers and students of the school visited and conducted research in Tianxin Village, Sitang Township, Lingui. They investigated Guangxi's imperial examination system and the development of local cultural tourism. The Nigerian teacher who led the group, said that this was the first time that students had studied, investigated, and experienced the cultural characteristics of different regions through different ways of learning from the city to the county, township, and village. The students gained a lot from the international cultural festival. This event brought together March 3rd and the Water Splashing Festival, integrated traditional cultures of China and foreign countries, and facilitated dialogue and exchange between different cultures, providing a practical basis for building a global community of shared future for mankind. The international cultural festival allowed us, the international students in China, to deeply experience the traditional cultural of Lingui's March 3rd festival and further deepen our understanding and appreciation of China's excellent traditional culture.

Wantian Yao Township in Lingui District, Guilin is located at the source of the Yijiang River. A thousand years ago, Yao compatriots came here to reproduce and thrive. The ethnic traditional culture is profound and rich, and it is a civilized township in the autonomous region and a demonstration township for national unity in Guilin City.

This year's March 3rd festival highlighted the theme of ethnic integration with the world and demonstrated the profound cultural heritage and open-minded, hospitable national image of the Chinese nation. Through the festival, a new mode of cultural and tourism exchange with the outside world was opened.

International students visit the popular tourist destination of Zhuangyuan Bridge in Tianxin Village of Lingui