Baisha’s San Yue San Festival: International Students Immersed in Vibrant Ethnic Culture

HAIKOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 April 2025 – From March 30 to 31, Baisha Li Autonomous County in Hainan Province, China, hosted celebrations for the traditional Li and Miao ethnic festival “San Yue San”. Two college students, Assima Bissen and Cyrus Huang, were invited from the Lingshui Li’an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone to experience the festivities. Guided by Zhang Chaoying, a local intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Li brocade, they joined in dancing around a bonfire, sharing a long-table banquet, and participating in a tea garden treasure hunt, immersing themselves in the vibrant fusion of ethnic cultures.

Assima Bissen, a Kazakh student at the Hainan International Institute of Beijing Language and Culture University, donned traditional Kazakh attire and danced alongside locals. Cyrus Huang, an art major at the Minzu University of China, captivated the crowd with improvised performances using his beloved suona (a traditional Chinese instrument), deeply engaging with Baisha’s folk culture.

https://youtu.be/K8Fg9pQF21g

The third day of the third lunar month marks the traditional “San Yue San” festival of China’s Li and Miao ethnic groups, celebrated with vibrant festivities in their cultural heartlands. In these gatherings, communities strengthen ethnic unity and collaboration through antiphonal singing, ancestral rituals, traditional costume displays, and demonstrations of intangible heritage skills like Li brocade weaving, while innovatively bridging traditional culture with modern society.

Nestled in the lush mountains of central Hainan, Baisha Li Autonomous County—renowned as “Hainan’s Green Lung” and the hometown of China’s earliest spring tea—boasts a tropical climate, dense forests, and rich ethnic traditions. This unique blend of natural beauty and cultural vitality makes it a paradise for nature enthusiasts and cultural explorers.