Folk Culture

Yuyu Kite Lantern Show

During every Spring Festival, the Yuyu Kite Lantern Show is a hit in Minzhu (Yuyu) Village in Su’ao Township. Legend has it that the practice has been around for more than 300 years, and with it, villagers express their wishes for long-lasting peace and good weather for crops. The show entails hanging “Olive Lanterns” on giant kites and flying them, and as they fly into the night sky, a long string of such lanterns begins to sparkle like stars. That is one of the greatest local wonders.

Niujiu Festival

This holiday, reminiscent of how things were during the ancient State of Yue, is a specialty for Pingtan. Coming to the county on the 29th day of the first lunar month, the festivity is known as Houjiu or Xiaojiu. On that very day, every family makes dumplings by putting potatoes and potato flour into homemade wrappings and stuffing them with seafood, meat, vegetables, and the like before steaming or boiling them. Locals make “Eryue’er” or “Niujiuzai” as well as Niujiu balls and porridge three days after the festival, and this particular act marks the end of the Spring Festival holiday for the Pingtanese every year.

Tenfold Music

Shifan, Shihuan, or Tenfold music involves ten instruments such as the erhu, Chinese lute, Chinese recorder, bean stalk pipe, palm drum, gong, and clappers. A band usually consists of 10-20 virtuosos. The style emerged during the Ming Dynasty centuries ago and flourished in the Qing. Today, it is still a regular program during folk occasions such as weddings, funerals, and festivals. In Pingtan, both towns and villages commonly see these performances, which can often win the hearts of many people for its grand nature and notable rhythm.

Dongxiang Papercutting

In the past, native women were all experts at handiwork. Nowadays, only some elderly females can still cut various patterns with flowing lines and inviting gusto, yet papercutting mainly serves to make gorgeous lanterns instead of window decorations. This is because lanterns are propitious for locals and can often be seen at happy events such as weddings in hopes that a family may be blessed with many children. When a woman returns to her parents’ home in the second year of her marriage, she must carry two lanterns as a representation of good wishes, and aside from the auspicious cutting of paper, there are other fascinating highlights such as colored ribbons and tassels.

Cane Shield Dance

It is said the prevailing Pingtan dance was invented by mid-Ming General Qi Jiguang and late Ming civilian Zheng Chenggong. When it comes to practice, all players who hold various long and short weapons and in particular cane shields touch, climb, roll, beat, and charge in a choreographed style. The dance involves percussion as well as the suona (Chinese sorna) to excite the atmosphere, and in 2007, it was included in Fuzhou’s First List of Intangible Cultural Heritages. Visitors to Haitan Ancient City in Pingtan can often see this event in action.

Snake Lantern Show

Also dubbed the Dragon Lantern Show, this is one of street folk shows popular among the locals. Each participant carries a lantern frame (with three mounted lanterns) and holds a walking stick, which allows them to put the frame on the stick when they want to have a break. The frame features a head made of bamboo splints and a tail tied using thick ropes by seven or eight people. In this way, the entire “dragon” frame may be longer than 100 meters, and each time the dragon glides on the street, various lanterns create a dazzling shine, making it a most noteworthy event, indeed.