The opening ceremony of the 2026 Guangxi Sanyuesan Festival kicked off on April 19 in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. This year’s festival, themed “Technology Empowering Tradition, Culture Connecting ASEAN,” has deeply integrated traditional ethnic celebrations with modern technology, injecting fresh contemporary vitality into this ancient Zhuang ethnic festival.

“Sanyuesan,” which falls on the third day of the third lunar month, is one of the most important traditional festivals for the Zhuang people and a statutory holiday in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. According to legend, this day marks the birthday of Buluotuo, the ancestor of the Zhuang ethnic group, and serves as an important occasion for young men and women to express affection through antiphonal singing and for worshiping ancestors. For thousands of years, Zhuang compatriots have gathered on this day to participate in colorful folk activities including song fairs, duets, embroidered ball throwing, and colored egg bumping.

This year’s Sanyuesan Festival features remarkable highlights. The opening ceremony employed cutting-edge technologies such as holographic projection and AR (Augmented Reality) to present the Zhuang myth “Buluotuo” as an immersive light and shadow show, allowing audiences to feel as if they had traveled back to ancient Zhuang tribes. Cultural delegations from all ten ASEAN countries also participated in this grand event, bringing distinctive ethnic song and dance performances that showcased the fruitful achievements of cultural exchanges among Belt and Road countries.

At the Qingxiu Mountain Scenic Area in Nanning, organizers created a “Digital Song Fair” experience zone. Visitors simply need to scan a QR code to engage in antiphonal singing with a virtual “Third Sister Liu” through AI voice synthesis technology, with the system capable of generating personalized folk song lyrics in real-time. This innovative initiative has attracted large numbers of young tourists, bringing traditional mountain song culture into modern life in an entirely new way.

An official from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Culture and Tourism stated: “We hope to use technological means to make traditional culture ‘come alive’ and ‘become popular,’ attracting more young people to pay attention to and participate in the inheritance and development of ethnic culture. At the same time, we aim to strengthen cultural exchanges with ASEAN countries through the Sanyuesan platform, telling China’s stories well and spreading China’s voice effectively.”

It is reported that this year’s Sanyuesan Cultural Festival will continue until April 22, featuring additional events including intangible cultural heritage demonstrations, ethnic costume shows, traditional sports competitions, and a food culture festival. Organizers expect over 500,000 tourists to participate in various activities, generating more than 200 million yuan in cultural tourism consumption.