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To make it convenient for public celebration, it was approved
in 1987 by regional law that the 3 days from April 13th through April
15th is the legal holiday for celebrating Water Splashing Festival in
Xishangbanna. Thanks to the development of tourism, the festival
is gaining popularity and becomes known as the Oriental Carnival.
Nowadays, the local government is attaching great important
on this festival with the purpose to promote traditional culture,
enrich people’s recreational life, improve unity and friendship of
all people, enhance domestic as well as international exchange,
and speed up tourism industry. Apart from conventional customs,
celebrating activities including public performance, pageant,
commodity fair, and food festival are held to make it a Dai carnival.
Activities
Folk custom activities: dragon boat racing, powered bamboo
shooting, firework display, Kongming lantern, water lantern, sand
sculpture, gamecock, commodity fair “Ganbai”, sachet throwing
game, water splashing
Cultural and sports activities : great pageant, variety shows,
painting and calligraphy exhibition, GMS swimming race, tropical
rainforest motorcycle race
Religious ceremonies : Buddha bathing, sutras chanting, water
sprinkling, praying, freeing captive animals
Business trading : Cross-border Trade and Tourism Meeting