Hotan Festivals and Events

Hotan celebrates a large variety of festivals and activities, and they are roughly divided into two kinds: ethnic traditional festivals and tourism festivals. The major minority of Hotan Prefecture is Uyghur nationality so that the special festivals here are Id Al-fitr (肉孜节),Corban Festival (古尔邦节) and Nowruz Festival (诺鲁孜节). The former two belong to Islamic festivals.

Id Al-fitr (肉孜节)

According to sharia, people would do Ramadan in each September of Islamic calendar. Every healthy adult of Muslim man and woman should fast for the whole month, namely they will not eat and go for entertainment from sunrise to sunset. Usually, the festival would keep omnibus three days.

Corban Festival (古尔邦节)

Corban Festival is Arabic transliteration, meaning "slaughter domestic animals" or "blood sacrifice". After the founded of Islam, Mohammed set lunar ephemeris December 10 as one of islamic festivals, and Corban Festival became a annual grand festival for the Uyghur who believe in Islam since the beginning of the 11th century.

Nowruz Festival (诺鲁孜节)

Nowruz Festival falls on March 20th to 22nd each year, and it is one of the most important festivals for Uyghur people. It is also known as Spring Welcoming Festival, namely to well the arrival of spring. The ceremony of the event starts on the dawn of 20th : people of all ages are dressed in ethnic splendid attires. Parents usually get up first to light fire using pine and cypress branches, and use smoky branches circling on the head of each family member, which shows the best wishes to them. The same ceremony will also be taken to domestic animals which demonstrates people’ wishes for good harvest in the following year. And then people prepare their special meals and pay visits to each other.

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