Festival is an important part of Chinese History and culture. Almost every festival has its own unique origins and custom that reflects the traditional practices and morality of Chinese nation, the minorities and its people.
Besides of many Chinese nation festivals of Spring Festival, Mid-autumn Festival and others celebrating by Han people, there are also many ethnic minority festivals. China is a large country with 55 ethnic minorities, characteristic festivals are held by the ethnic minorities for the difference in history and customs, living environment. It is about 1200 ethnic minority festivals, and some of them are so grand and influent that attract many visitors from far away. Some of the representative festivals is as follows:

Lusheng Festival 
Lusheng Festival in Gulong: 03-05.11.2010 
Lusheng Festival in Zhouxi: 03-05.11.2010
Lusheng Festival is one of the most important festival for ethnic Miao Groups, especially popular in Zhouxi and Gulong villages near Kaili. This festival aims to sacrifice the ancestors and celebrate the harvest. Before the celebration, the worshipping ritual always are presided by the venerable old man of the village; meanwhile, every household also make the worship to the ancestors at home. Later, the girls dress up in their intricate silver headdresses and beautiful costumes, while the boys carry their Lusheng (Lusheng is a reed instrument, which is made of bamboo and can measure up to 3 meters or as little as 1/3 meter.) and head to the Lusheng Stadium to celebrate the festival. The festival lasts for 4-6 days. This colorful courting party replete with exciting bullfights, horse races, Lusheng playing, singing contests, costume shows and traditional dancing.

Sister's Meal Festival
Sister's Meal Festival: 28-30.04.2010
Sister's Meal Festival, also called Sister's Rice Festival, is the festival of ethnic Miao groups specific to southeast Guizhou. The Sister's Meal Festival takes in the spring, during the third lunar month in Shidong, Taijiang County, the girls gather to the mountains to collect wild flowers and berries to dye the glutinous rice known as Sister's Rice. Each girl prepares her rice with a symbol then wraps it in a handkerchief or put inside small baskets, and dress in finest embroidered costumes and shined silver headdresses and jewelry. The Miao believe that silver, representing light, dispels evil spirits. Silver is also a symbol of wealth and beauty, and some young women wear several kilograms of it at one time. The traditional goal of this festival for the young girls to find their marriage partners. But fun is the name of the festival, about 3 festival days are filled with dancing, singing, eating, drinking, watching bullfights and cockfights, and horse racing. 

Water Splashing Festival
Water Splashing Festival: 4.14-16 of Dai Calendar
The Water Splashing Festival is a traditional festival for the Dai people in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China. The three-to-four-day Water Splashing Festival is held during the New Year of Dai Calendar, usually falling in middle April of solar calendar. On the eve of the first day of the festival, activities include launching rockets and dragon boat rowing, etc. The second day is known as Neuter Day, people usually stay at home or go hunting in the mountains according to the custom. The third day falls on New Year's day. In the morning, people dress up and go to the temple to worship Buddha. In the afternoon, every woman has to carry fresh water to clean the Buddha statue so she might get his blessing. People then splash water on each other to symbolize the blessing, rinsing away sickness and disaster with holy water for a happy life. At night, music accompanied by drumbeats reverberates throughout the villages and people enjoy dancing and singing to their hearts' content.

Torch Festival: The 24th to 26th day of the sixth lunar month
The Torch Festival is a traditional festival celebrated among some ethnic groups in southwestern China, such as the Yi, Bai, Hani, Lisu, Naxi, Pumi and Lahu etc. The festival features lighting up torches, hence its name. It usually falls on June 24th or 25th of lunar calendar of Yi Nationality, with three days of celebrations. The origin of the festival may have something to do with the worship of fire by ancestors, who believed fire had the power to repel insects, drive away evils and to protect crop growth. The people burn torches for three days and nights during the festival. In the evening, they walk around their fields with torches, and gather around bonfires, singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. The Torch Festival also provides the opportunity for young people to select their "Mr. and Mrs. Right".

March Fair: The 15th to 21st day of the third lunar month 
March Fair, also called Guan Yin (the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy) Festival, is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Bai Ethnic People in Dali in southwest Yunnan. According to the legend, the devil called Luocha occupied the territory of today's Dali and persecuted the common folk at the beginning of Tang Dynasty. During Zhenguan Period, Guan Yin from the west subdued the devil and saved the people. Since then, people gather every year to worship Guan Yin. Now March Fair become a prosperous commercial fair with tens of thousands of participants. Besides the Bai ethnic people, other minority groups such as the Yi, Tibetan, Naxi, Nu, Hui in that region will all throng to the fair. During the March Fair, the streets at Dali old town is compete with temporally stalls selling a mind-boggling variety of items. The horsemen demonstrate their excellent horsemanship during the horse racing. The folk actors play with dragons, lions and cranes made from bamboo, paper and silks.

Nadam Fair: Between July and August every year 
Hohhot: 24.07.2009-08.08.2009
Nadam is a great festival on the grassland to celebrate the harvest, usually held on June 4th of lunar calendar falling in August when the livestock is fat and strong. Nadam means entertainment or games in Mongolian. Folk-style dancing and singing is performed during the Nadam as Mongolians are good at dancing and singing. At the fair, men and women, old or young, dress up and participate, or watch from cars or on horses. Other entertainment includes horseracing, wrestling, archery and dancing and singing. The Nadam is also known as a fair of agricultural and livestock goods. Apart from the industry and farming sideline products, there are also other local special goods, such as beef and mutton, fumed food, cheese, dried cheese, cream, milk curd and yoghurt. Ghee tea and baked full mutton are also supplied at the tea booths and restaurants.

Xinjiang Grape Festival: August, Turpan
Xinjiang Grape Festival was first launched in 1990 and has since become an annual event in Turpan. It is also a special event to commemorate the ancient Silk Road which stretches 4000km in China and 2000km in Xinjiang territory, with south, middle and north 3 routes crossing the area. Turpan is well-known as a strategic key point at the middle route. Events on the festival include a Wedding in the Uygur style, mashlap (lively and humorous folk dance), nazkum (witty art performance), Koco style songs and dances, Hami-melon competition, trade negotiations, tour of the Street of Grapes and Melons, and camel caravans reminiscent of the Silk Road more than 2,000 years ago. Large scale Mucamu concert, a grape-eating competition, Dawazi (in Uygur means high-altitude wire walking) challenge competition. Grape cultivation in the world-famous city of Turpan dated back to more than 2000 years ago. Most of Turpan's grapes are grown in the renowned Grape Valley.

Lhasa Yoghurt (Shoton) Festival 
Lhasa: 20-26.08.2010     
"Shoton" means yoghurt banquet in Tibetan. It is celebrated on 1st July according to Tibetan Calendar and lasts seven days. It began in 16th century with a banquet given by the lay people for the monks featuring yoghurt. As Tibetan operas are performed and Buddha paintings are exhibited at this time, it is also called "Tibetan Opera Festival" or "Buddha Exhibition Festival". From 17th century on, traditional Tibetan Opera were performed during the annual Shoton Festival in Norbulingka Park. Meanwhile, Drepung Monastery holds the annual ceremony of displaying Buddha portrait.

Saga Dawa Festival 
Saga Dawa, an influential religious festival in Tibet, celebrates each year in the full fourth lunar month of Tibetan Calendar. Buddhism believes that Sakyamuni was born on 15th  April of Tibetan Calendar, and also became Buddha and died on the same date, so the Sagar Dawa Festival mainly focuses on worshipping Buddha in the inner, middle and outer parts of Lhasa. All the activities last through the whole month. The grandest one is on April 15th when the Buddhist followers walk around the outer part of Lhasa. They recite scriptures while walking on the 8,000-metre-long outer ring of Lhasa, forming a grand troop.

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