Guizhou – Miao Sister Festival

Dates:	Wednesday, April 28 to Saturday, May 1
Price:	RMB 6,890 p.p.
	Single Supplement: RMB 880
	Child with extra bed: 4,760 Child without bed: RMB 4,220
Deposit:	RMB 1000 due by April 16
Balance:	Due by April 16

Guizhou, isolated from the rest of the world for centuries by its mountainous terrain, remains one of China’s most isolated and unspoiled provinces. Celebrated for its hospitality, the province is a lively, visual mix of thirteen different ethnic groups. Many of these continue an ancient way of life and time-honored traditions. Every year on March 15th of Lunar calendar, sisters and their relatives come together to celebrate the Sister’s Festival. This is the oldest festival among the Miao minority; it is also on this day that young boys and girls choose their lovers freely.

Day 1
Take a midday flight from Shanghai to Guiyang. Upon arrival we will drive about 2 hours to Kaili, and check into our hotel. At dinner, we will try the local specialty dish - sour fish soup.

Day 2
After breakfast, we will drive about 2 hours to the village of Shidong to catch the weekly market day, which has over a hundred years of history. More than 20,000 local people from nearby villages gather to buy and sell all kinds of stunning silver jewelry, Miao embroidery, paper cuttings and cloth dyes. After lunch at a local farm house, we will visit a silver workshop followed by a local primary school. The last activity of the day will be visiting the Miao embroidery museum and participating in an embroidery class. We will enjoy the cuisine of the ethnic minorities for dinner tonight.

Day 3
It’s festival time! This is the traditional festival for young people to gather and find their lovers. We will see young girls busily preparing five-colored sticky rice and getting dressed up. We will have an opportunity to join them in making the colorful sticky rice. Lunch will be served in the house of a local Miao. In the afternoon, the girls gather by the river, wearing huge silver-horned headdresses and crowns with delicate designs of birds, flowers and coins. As the girls gracefully dance, their jewelry and headdresses make wonderful musical sounds to show off their beauty. The boys serenade the girls they like and if their feelings are reciprocated, they will receive the five-colored sticky rice plus a pine tree leaf, a small chili or a pair of chopsticks.

Day 4
Drive back to Guiyang and enjoy a short city tour with a visit to the flower and bird market. We will enjoy a vegetarian lunch at the Hongfu Temple before transferring to the airport for our flight back to Shanghai.