《An unforgettable trip to Huanggang Dong Village in Southeast Guizhou》

Name：Li Jinwei
University: Guizhou Minzu University
Tutor: He Chun

The train from other provinces to Guizhou, carrying the dream of studying, slowly pulled into the platform. The moment I set foot on this colorful land, I was deeply attracted by the ethnic culture nourished here.

Guizhou Minzu University, where I study, has gone through 72 years of trials and tribulations. As a cradle of high-level talent training , it not only undertakes the mission of cultivating the pillars of the country, but also shoulders the heavy responsibility of cultural inheritance and innovation.

This past summer vacation, the school gave me a precious opportunity to go to Huanggang Dong Village, a traditional Chinese ethnic village, carrying out the practical activity of "exploring colorful Guizhou and visiting traditional villages".

Huanggang Dong Village is an intact-keep Dong village located in the deep mountains of southeast Guizhou Province, which was founded in the Song Dynasty, estimated a span of more than 800 years. The village enjoys the reputation of "the hometown of Dong People's Grand Chorus" , a residence with striking ethnic characteristics.

In this practice, we had the honor to experience the local annual mysterious-surrounding festival, passed down from generation to generation, known as the Heaven Festival (also called the Shouting Day Festival) . On the fifteenth day of the sixth lunar month each year, all the men, women and children of the village will gather in the center of the village to worship "Lei Po"(a deified ancestor with great power) in order to have favorable weather and bumper harvest.

As this was a precious occasion to approach the colorful, attractive Chinese ethnic culture, our team stream lived officially the grandeur of the festival, which, reflecting the vigor of the youth's speeches, broadcast round the clock the place, people and things of Huanggang, so beautiful a Dong village, to the audience paying attention to our coverage. In order to better help the tourism development of traditional villages, our team uses the official video number of Minda (Chinese name for Minzu University) to live broadcast the "Hantian Festival", with youthful and lively language expression, hoping to achieve the purpose of expanding the influence of Huanggang Dong Village.

I was lucky enough to serve as the anchor and make the event live with the former village heard of Huanggang Dong Village, leading our audience to experience the festival immersed. As soon as the live-covering camera was turned on, my once-worried mood was gradually relaxed, and my body and mind were totally immersed in the strong and lively atmosphere, narrating the ancient customs and moving legends of "Hantian Festival" in Huanggang Dong Village. As time went on, my previous confusion about the unfamiliar Dong language disappeared completely, and I simply felt amazed and warm now and here.

Through the mysterious time-weathered Dong language, I seemed to be seeing the wonders of heaven and earth connecting and the harvests one after another; amid the melodious Grand Song Chorus of the Dong people, I seemed to be seeing the sparkling light of the clear spring and the notes jumping on the edge of the ancient-to-now dream; in the passionate paddy-field fishing activities, I understood the wisdom of the Dong people's integrated "rice-fish-duck" farming culture; in the light of the Drum Tower bonfire party, I tasted the unique "animal blood food", "flavored cattle-intestine food" and other try-once-and-never-forget Dong foods...

We measured the mountains and rivers of Huanggang Dong Village with our feet, experienced the natural scenery and ethnic characteristics here with our hearts, and recorded the mysterious charm here with the lens. The short and in-depth national cultural experience and exchange strengthened our sense of belonging to the Chinese national culture as well as our sense of the Chinese national community.

The time in Huanggang was short, but I was deeply moved by the ethnic culture here and fascinated by the charms of national culture evolving through time and space. I was even more excited when I discovered that our stream living was watched online by more than 20,000 people and received 234,000 likes.

The "Hantian Festival" has received so much attention, which not only highlights the charm of the Chinese minority culture itself, but also manifests that if the traditional village tourism development is promoted with the effective help of digital or online power and youthful expressions, it will definitely bring great surprises to the revitalization of traditional villages.

History is the root, and culture is the soul. Traditional villages carry the historical memories of the Chinese nation and are valuable living cultural heritages that need to be protected, passed on and revitalized.

This cultural exchange was just an episode of my life, but it not only cleansed my soul, but also strengthened my determination to "add bricks and tiles" or make my bits and pieces of contribution to the cause of rejuvenating traditional national culture and to the shining inheritance and development of Chinese ethnic culture.

My story with this colorful land is still continuing, and I believe that in the future I will be able to see the traditional culture of the Chinese nation blossom with its glory.