Large crowds of visitors arrive in Songyang county in Lishui, Zhejiang province on Feb 7 to take part in a distinctive cultural festival featuring Hakka customs. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

A cultural festival celebrating the culture of the Hakka people took place on Feb 7 in Dadongba, a town in Songyang county, Zhejiang province.

Songyang is home to a number of people of the Hakka minority, a sub-group of China's majority Han ethnic group who are thought to be the descendants of "guest people"—migrants from China's central plains who settled in the coastal provinces of South China.

The festival aimed to showcase Hakka people's special customs for celebrating the Lantern Festival, an important Chinese festival that marks the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, through a variety of distinctive activities.

A lantern show featuring dragons, lions and other distinctive designs created a festive atmosphere in Songyang, as did the displays of paper-cutting artworks and bean pictures, a traditional style of art created from colored beans stuck to a canvas.

The local archive, meanwhile, highlighted the culture and history of the Hakka people in the county by hosting an exhibition displaying centuries-old indentures of marriage and house and land ownership deeds from Hakka residents.

People also participated in activities like mud-wrestling, making postcards and tasting traditional Hakka dishes.

Children make pictures with beans of different colors at the cultural festival in Songyang on Feb 7. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Children wearing traditional clothes give a horse-shaped lantern show at the festival on Feb 7. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]