You can smell the scent of water vapor from a distance.
Zhang Hongcheng poked his head out curiously.
What happened?
Old Cheng smiled and hurried to pull Zhang Hongcheng, but it was too late.
A wet female educated youth standing on the roadside smiled and poured a basin of clean water on Zhang Hongcheng's face.
The loud sound of gongs and drums rang out, and people on Jinghong Old Street were singing and dancing, and having water fights.
The truck was so large that it immediately became the target of everyone's blessings.
The two educated youths jumped out of the car with a yell. They didn't dare to stay in the car anymore because they were sitting ducks.
Zhang Hongcheng wiped his face before he reacted.
It’s Songkran Festival!
The Water-Splashing Festival in different parts of Yunnan Province starts on different dates depending on the ethnic group.
Zhang Hongcheng happened to catch the wheat day in Jinghong, which is the first day of the Water Splashing Festival.
The streets were full of Dai compatriots and educated youth who came to watch the fun.
The colors of Dai people's clothing are very bright, but it's a pity that the women don't have the small bras of later generations. The shortest they wear is a floral shirt and a long skirt that reaches the elbows.
Basins of clean water from the roadside poured down on him. Zhang Hongcheng was about to escape from the car when he was grabbed by Lao Cheng.
He smiled and pointed ahead, shouting to him, "Look over there! The Xishuangbanna State Art Troupe is coming!"
The two men looked down from a high vantage point and saw a group of brightly dressed Dai girls singing and dancing coming out of a large courtyard. Almost all the clean water from everyone was poured on them.
Zhang Hongcheng held his head to protect himself from the cold and carefully looked at the female comrades in the art troupe.
Those two educated youths hadn't really boasted before, these female comrades were all more beautiful than the other.
The truck could not move any further when it reached the intersection of Kunluo Highway and Minzu Road. Not far away was the main venue on the Lancang River, and the East is Red Square was packed with people.
The soldiers on duty did not let any car pass.
Old Cheng immediately pulled Zhang Hongcheng out of the car and took a small road to a place where they could take a ox cart. Zhang Hongcheng was going to Manka Village, and there was still a lot of catching up to do.
Unfortunately, Lao Cheng also underestimated the madness of this festival.
In the alley, they were stopped by several Dai girls and old men.
The girls dipped the clear water in the basin with green branches and sprinkled it on them, and the old man held corn wine in his hand.
This is a local custom. The Water-Splashing Festival is not just about splashing water, drinking is also a very important part.
After drinking three bowls of wine, Lao Cheng finally sent Zhang Hongcheng to the open space at the edge of the town.
There were some ox-drawn and horse-drawn vehicles parked here, and Zhang Hongcheng was sent by Lao Cheng to an ox-drawn cart passing by Manka.
The oxcart swayed slowly along the dirt road, and large banana leaves could be seen everywhere overhead.
On the other side of the river, a group of educated youth, both men and women, rushed into the river cheering - they were too lazy to take a detour, so they swam directly across to participate in the Water Splashing Festival.
The Dai man driving the cart understood Chinese and chatted with Zhang Hongcheng with a smile.
From him, Zhang Hongcheng learned several Dai words.
"Wanduo Shanghan" is the wheat day, which means bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, which is similar to the Han people's farewell to the old and welcoming the new.
Dai comrades are called "Binluodalai".
The old man was very talkative and interestingly learned a few words of Northeastern dialect from Zhang Hongcheng.
For example, "Your nose is so powerful", "Oh my god", "What are you looking at"......
Manka is a small village far away from Jinghong.
The old man lived twenty miles behind Manka Village.
The old lady treated him to lunch, which was the glutinous rice that grandma brought with her. It was super fragrant and sticky.
The daylight hours in Banna in April are quite long, but the ox cart did not arrive at the gate of Manka Village until it was getting dark.
The village is not big, and there are loud noises of gongs and drums inside.
As soon as Zhang Hongcheng came down, several Dai girls came over with smiles and sprinkled water on him with green leaves.
Three bowls of corn wine were squeezed to Zhang Hongcheng's mouth.
Welcoming guests during the wheat harvest season is also a very important event.
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