Ethnic heritage meets Dragon Boat Festival traditions in Zhangye

People try their hands at making zongzi. [Photo provided to gozhangye.com.cn]

A celebration blending traditional folk customs with intangible cultural heritage took place on June 12 in Zhangye's Sunan Yugur autonomous county to mark both Dragon Boat Festival and China's Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, bringing together residents and visitors to experience the rich cultural traditions of the Yugur ethnic group.

Festivities opened with ethnic performances from Yugur women, dressed in their distinctive traditional attire and red-tasseled hats, who danced gracefully to the rhythm of folk songs echoing across the square.

A highlight of the event was the Yugur intangible cultural heritage exhibition, where representative inheritors demonstrated traditional costumes, embroidery techniques, and folk songs.

Experience zones and traditional game areas around the square also attracted enthusiastic crowds from the Yugur, Tibetan, Mongolian, and other ethnic communities, who gathered to try their hands at making zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), crafting fragrant sachets, weaving colorful bracelets, and playing traditional festival games such as pole-pushing and crawling tug-of-war.

The event not only celebrated Dragon Boat Festival but also highlighted the enduring vitality of intangible cultural heritage, fostering cultural appreciation and strengthening the shared commitment to preserving these treasured traditions for future generations.