Temple festival in Pudi
(by Jessie Lu)
Pudi is my home town and home to a little Chinese Temple festival.
In my hometown stands a temple which is more then 100 years old.
The temple was destroyed around 1970 but in 1990 floods demolished
what was left at the time.
In 1999 the people in the village decided it was time
to rebuild the temple. People started to look in the history of the village
and realized the temple brought good luck and happiness and they wanted the
temple back where it belonged. For the villagers the temple is, as Jessie
says: "a peach and happiness symbol."
To celebrate the rebuilding, the village made 2nd
February festival day. It is the celebration of the day that the temple has
been rebuild.
The temple in Pudi Village
Mr. Feng Shui said:
"The Pudi village looks like a phoenix on top of a hill, ready
to fly out to find a dragon as a husband." So the village chief
organized a team of young boys from the village who went to the Li river
in front of the village.
The boys were to perform a lion and dragon dance,
accompanied with drumming. Then they brought a claypot with water to temple.
The dragon was invited to come to the temple and marry the phoenix. During
the ceremony lots of fireworks were used to bring good luck and drive out
the evil spirits. Special food was offered to the dragon and the phoenix as
they are indeed a magic couple!
That night the village people had a wonderful dinner,
celebrating the marriage of the dragon and the phoenix. The couple was
entertained with a local opera performance.
Since 1999, every year the marriage of the dragon and
the phoenix is celebrated. Many people from surrounding villages come to
visit and pay tribute to the dragon and the phoenix with offers and
fireworks. Every year a local opera is performed. In the Pingle country, the
Pudi Temple Festival is now very famous.
Celebrations and activities at the
festival
Every family in Pudi pays Y20 (about US $3) to have a
local opera play be performed in the village. The village gives them free
accommodation and food. There are two shows a day, one before lunch and one
after dinner at night.
Spectators at the opera
During the day, the village organizes a basketball
competition (remember, basketball is because of superstar Yao Min very
popular). The winner of the competition earns a gold medal and Y1000.
The basketball competition
During the day the village is very busy. Many people
from surrounding villages visit to pay respect to the temple and enjoy the
opera and the basketball competition. Usually the men prefer the basketball
competition while the ladies and children enjoy themselves with the opera.
The local Chinese opera in Pudi Village
After the opera and basketball competition, all
visitors can go to one of the local houses and enjoy a free meal. To reward
the host of the house were they will have lunch, the visitors will bring a
present to show their gratitude to their hosts.
In the years since the start, the festival in Pudi Village, not
far from Yangshuo has grown out to a big event. We brings
guests, if any at the time around to the festival to let them enjoy this
typical local temple festival.
Jessie Lu
Yangshuo
This article was written by
Jessie Lu, for
including in the Yangshuo Travel Guide.com, all rights reserved. All photos
by Jessie Lu.
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