The Huachao Festival | Traditional Costume Parade

The Huachao Festival, also known as the "Flower God Festival", "Hundred Flowers Birthday", "Flower God Birthday", or "Picking Vegetables Festival", is a traditional Han Chinese festival that is popular in Northeast, North, East, Central and South China. It is traditionally celebrated on the 12th day of the second lunar month, which is believed to be the birthday of all flowers. The "Huachao Festival" includes customs such as spring outings, butterfly catching, planting flowers, digging wild vegetables, and making flower cakes. At the same time, this day is also known as Daughter's Day. Girls gather together to play and make friends. Women who have not yet left the pavilion love to admire the red flowers, worship the Flower God, eat flower cakes, perform flower rituals, and pray for themselves to be as vibrant and beautiful as flowers. Since the Song Dynasty, the Flower Festival has become a major folk festival and one of the most important traditional festivals in China. During the festival, people travel together to the outskirts to admire flowers, which is called "hiking". Girls cut five colored paper and stick it on flower branches, which is called "appreciating red". There are also customs such as "installing lion flowers" and "releasing flower lanterns" in various regions.