Ngari Festivals and Events
Although the weather in Nagri is harsh, people there are warm and hospitable. The best-known dance Xuan(kind of traditional dance in Tibet which only the special chosen old people know how to dance and is passed down from one generation to another ) not only owns a long history, is also the best way to present the characteristic of Tibetan costume. After a taste of a cup of highland barley wine, yak butter tea, acidophilus milk, you will be moved by the pure heart of the people in Ngari.
Festivals and Activities in Ngari
Sagadawa Festival
The Tibetan April is the time to celebrate Sagadawa Festival in order to commemorate Sakyamuni, who is the founder of Buddhism. Pilgrims spare no effort to circumambulate around the holy lakes and mountains like Kailash and Lake Manasarovar.
Fruit-Awaiting Festival
Fruit-Awaiting Festival is celebrated in the middle of August of the Tibetan Calendar, people will dress up and bring with butter tea, highland barley wine and a variety of food to the fields for having a picnic. At the same time, they will sing and dance, and hold horse racing, cattle racing, archery, stoning, wrestling and other activities.
Xiangxiong Cultural Festival
Xiangxiong Cultural Festival(象雄文化节) is a good time to visit the relics of Guge Kingdom, holy Mount Kailash, sacred Lake Manasarovar, spectacular Zhada Earth Forest, beautiful Pangong Tso Lake in Ngari Region. The Xiangxiong festival usually lasts for the whole August. Xiangxiong, also Shang Shung, is an ancient culture and kingdom of western Tibet that dates back more than 1300 years. The most eye-catching event featured in the Xiangxiong Festival is Tibet’s most renowned horse competition.
Tibetan New Year
On Tibetan New Year's Day, people bring their offerings and highland barley wine to their own crops to sacrifice the Harvest Goddess. Everyone in the ground sets up a long pole, hanging streamer on the top of the pole, and wheat straw bound on the lower. People build an altar in front of the pole, and then simmering mulberry, singing, dancing, begging the Harvest Goddess a booming harvest. There are lots of New Year entertainment. From the beginning of the second day, the men take part in horse racing and archery, the arrow is a wooden cone drilled a lot of holes, when arrows are taken away from the string, people begin dancing and drinking around the campfire.
