The Nuoluzi Festival began on Monday, and the Uigurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and other nationalities of Xinjiang will greet the arrival of spring in a traditional manner.

The Nuoluzi Festival originated in central Asia. With the melting of ice and snow, and the return of green plants, nomadic and semi-nomadic people once took time to celebrate the beginning of new life. On Monday, relatives and friends gather together to feast, sing, dance and take part in physical competitions to welcome a good harvest for the coming year.

The ceremonies of the Nuoluzi Festival start at dawn, and the reporter saw men and women, old and young of the Uygur nationality celebrating in traditional attire near Urumuqi.

On the day of the festival, the male head of the family wakes first, burns a pile of cypress branches in the center of his house, and then turns around above the head of every family member with the smoking branches, wishing them safety and happiness. Afterwards, he takes the smoking cypress branches to the gate of his family's livestock pen, and makes the livestock cross through the smoke, praying that the animals will grow well and breed rapidly.

The festival is met by a flurry of early morning activity, and the participants consume a thick, varied porridge, also called "Nuoluzi rice." At noon, families visit one another, and after sunset, the families feast, freely expressing their joy.

(Chinanews.cn March 23, 2005)