The origin of the Gelao ethnic group was related to Liao (916-1125). The people of the Gelao ethnic group mainly live in counties of Majiang, Kaili, Huangping, Duyun and Fuquan in Guizhou province.
Most Gelao people live in karst landscapes. Valleys and flatlands with rich water and lush grass are formed among the mountains, creating an ideal place for the Gelao people.
The Gelao people live in villages with their clan. Only in some market towns and large villages do the Gelao people live with other nationalities and families. Their housing usually consists of three parallel single-story houses which are built with mud walls and tile rooves. The brick houses belonged to landowners and rich peasants in the past. Most houses have seven doors – the front door, middle gate, back door and four room doors. Gelao diet consists of rice, corn and tuber crop. Hot and sour food is popular. Families enjoy salted pickled leek, pickled snap beans, pickled taro, pickled sword beans and pickled garlic bulbs as appetizers. Vegetables include Chinese cabbage, water spinach, edible amaranth, snap beans, pumpkin, mustard and radish. Meat includes pork, chicken, duck and fish, but they avoid eating cat and snake.
The festival culture of the Gelao people is quite rich. They not only share many festivals with the local people of the Han and Zhuang ethnic groups, such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Spring Sacrifice, Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Autumn Sacrifice, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival and Kitchen God Festival, but also have many festivals of their own.
The Gelao New Year is the first Rabbit Day of lunar October and is mainly popular in Qiannan and Qiandongnan in Guizhou province. Locals will make Ciba (namely glutinous rice cake) and wine and eat chicken, duck and fish. Wealthy families will butcher pigs, often alongside several other families. On the first day of the New Year, Gelao villages will wash their well, put out a stove and package their kindling. In the early morning of the New Year, they will carry new water. On New Year's Day, every household sets off firecrackers. People of all ages and sexes wear new clothes and worship their ancestors before dining together. The Gelao people usually call the Gelao New Year "Danian" and the Spring Festival "Xiaonian". The Gelao New Year is an auspicious occasion for the Gelao people, so many young men and women get married on this day.
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Girls of the Miao ethnic group dress up in Guizhou province. [Photo/xinhuanet.com] |
The Gelao folk games and physical activities are vibrant and lively, and enrich the lives of the Gelao people.
Straw-dragon Dance: The straw dragon is weaved with straw and decorated with colorful paper. During the Spring Festival, the Gelao people perform the straw-dragon dance around the entire village.
Fire Cracker Ball: A common recreational activity of the Gelao and Zhuang peoples. The game is played on lunar June 24 each year. A cannon is used to shoot a floral circle into the sky. Participants then scramble to catch the floral circle falling from sky. The winner will be the person who catches the most floral circles. Only five crackers will be fired at each Cracker Ball Festival and only one floral circle will be shot per cracker.
Dragons fighting for one Pearl: A specified amount of fruits will be placed into the water. Participants will then dive into the water to catch fruits as many fruits as possible. The person with the most fruits wins.
