Qingming Festival is a special festival that carries the profound Chinese cultural heritage and emotional sustenance. People will visit graves and worship their ancestors and go on outings on this day. Are there any other folk activities with more local characteristics during Qingming Festival? Sichuan’s answer is “yes”. Let’s learn about the Dujiangyan Water Release Festival, a top custom that has been passed down for more than 2,200 years.

During the Tang Dynasty, the “Spring and Autumn Cow Show” held on the banks of the Minjiang River during Qingming Festival was the earliest water release festival. It was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that Qingming Festival was officially established as a water release festival. Since then, every Qingming Festival, Dujiangyan will hold a grand water release ceremony to commemorate Li Bing and his son, pass on the concept of water control, and celebrate the harvest of the coming year.

In 2006, the Dujiangyan Water Release Festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. When the rushing river water turns into nectar to irrigate fertile fields, and when modern technology gives new wisdom to the ancient water conservancy project, the Dujiangyan Water Release Festival is no longer a simple folk activity, but a testimony to the eternal wisdom of Chinese civilization that follows the laws of nature and achieves harmony between man and nature.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the application of Qingcheng Mountain-Dujiangyan for World Heritage status. In addition to the conventional water release ceremony, the Water Release Festival also offers intangible cultural heritage tours and folk performances. You can “travel” through ancient times at the water release ceremony and witness the ancient cofferdam, river interception, sacrifice, and water release by cutting wooden rafts. You can also see a variety of intangible cultural heritage handicrafts such as bamboo weaving and wood carving, as well as wonderful folk performances on site.

The holiday is coming, and the spring is just right. Let’s go to the invitation of spring water on the banks of the Minjiang River and leave a unique spring memory!