"Night visiting" is a unique way for Li youth to meet their lovers. When night falls, young chaps dress themselves up before strolling to "sister longgui", girls' dwelling houses, in neighboring villages. Through antiphonal singing, blowing nose flutes (a bamboo flute of the nose), boys find the girls they fancy. Later girls send boys waistbands embroidered with the designs of butterflies and flower as a sign of approval for the relationship. Boys then bite the girls' arm, leaving teeth marks in return for the gifts. Girls are happy to be bitten despite the pains, since Li people believe that the deeper the marks, the deeper the love.

Parents usually plant a palm tree when a girl is born. The tree is moved to her husband's home when she is married, and cut down when she dies. Li people do so because they believe women should be as upright as a betel palm. In some parts of Hainan, a boy usually sends a box of betelnuts to the girl's parents when asking for marriage. Taking one of the betelnuts suggests the parents' approval of the marriage.

In the past, a girl had to have her face tattooed when she was engaged. Patterns, provided by the husband, were pricked and dyed with permanent pigments on the girl's forehead, cheeks and lips.

 The March 3rd Festival

Li people still maintain the tradition of celebrating a festival on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar. Recorded in Zhang Qingchang's journal of the Qing Dynasty , the festival enjoys a long history.

Unmarried men and women gather in fields during spring, the men singing and dancing, trying to attract girls. A girl will sing a folk song if she likes the boy, and blow the nose flute to express affection.

 Nose flute 

Nose flute is one of the ancient wind instruments of the Li ethnic group. Made with white bamboo from Five Fingers Mountain, the flute is 60 cm in length. There are two holes on each end of the flute, with the other two located at about 10cm from each end. The flute is trimmed to fit the nose, with a diameter of only 1 cm.
(Author: Jing)

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