Inner Mongolia Festivals


The grandest festival is the Nadam Fair for five to seven days during late August. Mongolian people, in new clothes, will gather from many areas. Many will participate in the exciting competitions of shooting, wrestling, and horse-riding.
Naadam, short for Eriyn Gurvan Naadam ("Three Manly Games") means "Entertainment!" in the mind of the typical Mongolian. The Naadam Grassland Festival of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is China's Mongolian ethnic minority's most magnificent yearly entertainment event, combining the traditional "Three Manly Games" of Naadam – wrestling, horse racing, and archery – with cultural exhibits and even a livestock fair.


Wulanmugi Festival of Inner Mongolia
Time: Wulanmugi Festival of Inner Mongolia is held twice in a year and the holding time is as same as that of Nadam Fair and Grassland Tourist Festival of Inner Mongolia.
Place: In Huhehaote city.
Brief introduction: Each banner and county attends in this Wulanmugi Festival of Inner Mongolia every year. Experts evaluate the winners out. Wulanmuji in Mongolian language means red cultural team. They have made great contributions to Inner Mongolia and it is very popular with the Mongolians


Grassland Tourist Festival of Inner Mongolia
Time: Around August in every year.
Place: Huhehaote city.
Brief introduction: The first Grassland Tourist Festival of Inner Mongolia was held in September of 1991, and then in every August, it would be held. It is a multiple-function activity based on the Nadam Fair. In this Grassland Tourist Festival of Inner Mongolia, lots of activities are included, like commercial negotiation, goods and materials exchanges and entertainments and so on.


Zhaojun Festival of Huhehaote
Time: 16th to 21st of July.
Place: Huhehaote city
Contents:Opening ceremony, national singing and dancing, march of Asian folk art, Grapes Festival of Tuo County, Mountain Climbing Festival of Wuchuan and so on.

Horse Milk Festival
Time: Horse milk Festival is often held in the late August according to Chinese lunar calendar. It lasts for a whole day.  
Place: Horse milk Festival is held in parts of Xilinguole League and Ordos area of Inner Mongolia
Brief introduction: Horse milk Festival is the festival celebrating the harvest. On that day, lots of snacks and drinks will be prepared. Horse milk and braised mutton are the main dishes on the feast. People also have horse racing and singing activities after the feast.


Lantern Festival
Time: Every 25th of October in Chinese lunar calendar.Place: Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Brief introduction: On the Lantern Festival, every home lights their lantern to celebrate. But in Hebukesaier Mongolian Autonomous County and Emin County, people do not celebrate Lantern Festival any more. In Wusu city, people hold many activities to instead of Lantern Festival. Activities are as follows: horse racing, camel racing, wrestling, arrows shooting, tugging, singing, dancing and so on


Aobao Festival
Time: late May or early June, some places hold it in July or August.
Place: Aobao is part of the traditional culture of Inner Mongolia and they are held in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Brief introduction: Aobaos are often set on the hills or mountains on the grassland. On the Aobao Festival, people ride their horses to gather at an appointed place. Before the sacrificing ceremony, people hold horse races. Then, monks lead people to sacrifice to the gods and people add more stones to the Aobao. After the ceremony, more activities will be held, like wrestling, singing or dancing...Offering Sacrifices to Aobaos 


Nadam Grassland Tourist Festival

Time: every July and August(25 to 29 July in 2015).
Place: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Nadam Festival is a special festival for Mongolian people (in China, most of them live in Inner Mongolia), which has distinctive national characteristics. The festival is actually based on a big party, and people from all regions get together, singing, dancing and having some traditional but very interesting athletics activities.

Nadam, in Mongolian language, means “entertainment” or “game”, that’s why every year, in June 4th of lunar calendar, all Mongolian people gather on the grasslands and enjoy their grand meeting. The three major programs of Nadam Festival are wrestling, horse racing and archery. These three are almost the same in all areas.

However, Nadam Festival differs in different areas, including the ways of celebrating, activity types and the size of the party etc..

As Nadam Festival is hosted in different groups -- some are held in their villages or counties, some other are held in Banners (a special administrative division in Inner Mongolia, which are equal to districts), the scale of the parties are quite different -- some have really huge size, almost all the residents in the region join in the activities; while some are quite small, just a few friends gathering together and celebrating in a small range.

Thus the differences between the different areas can be demonstrated by the number of people engaging in the activities; the number of horses; the duration of days in celebrating the festival. (Three levels in all regions: Large, Medium, Small. Nadam Festival of Large scale involving 512 wrestling players, more than 300 horses, and the festival lasts for 7 to 10 days; Medium scale, 256 players, 100 to 150 horses, lasting for 5 to 7 days; Small scale, 64 players, 30 horses, and lasting 3 to 5 days.)

Except for those three major sports mentioned above, there are also some other activities and they are also different in different areas. The most important is the festival show, gathering around the bonfire, singing and dancing. Other activities includes polo, equestrian and some ball games.

As the development of the society, in many urban areas, some popular sports have taken place of the traditional ones. But the residents on the grasslands and those living in mountainous areas still keep good tradition and their colorful traditions. The less developed the areas are, the more activities they will hold. 



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