To ease the traffic congestion during the Chabai Song Festival on July 14 this year, Chabai village in Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture has built new lanes and improved its infrastructure.

Chabai Song Festival, a memorial festival of the Bouyei ethnic group in the southeast part of Guizhou province is held from the 21st to 23rd of every sixth lunar month.

The festival often attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from many other ethnic groups from neighboring Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Yunnan province every year. 

To build on the success of holding the traditional festival by improving the infrastructure, Chabai repaired a 1.8-km lane leading to the village and built two parking lots as well as a 2.5-km pedestrian track around the mountain.

Chabai villagers repair the road leading to the village to prepare for the coming Chabai Song Festival. [Photo/ldqxn.com]

The festival dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and is celebrated in remembrance of two young lovers named Chalang and Baimei, who came to a tragic end. 

To commemorate their story, local people changed their village's name to Chabai with first two characters taken from their names and gather to the center of the village to sing folk songs. 

People gather in Chabai village, Xingyi city in Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, to sing folk songs during the Chabai Song Festival. [Photo/ldqxn.com]

After the traditional ceremony took root, it eventually became a festival. Celebratory activities have been gradually enriched as time passed. The Chabai Song Festival was even listed among the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritages in 2006. 

Chabai village, located in the southeastern part of Guizhou province, hosts the Chabai Song Festival from the 21st to 23rd of every sixth lunar month. [Photo/ldqxn.com]