The Drung Ethnic Minority celebrates their only traditional festival, the New Year Festival, in the twelfth month of the year. The length of the festival, ranging from two to five days, depends on the amount of food prepared. What's more, there is no fixed day for the festival, with each family or tribe celebrating the New Year Festival on the day they consider auspicious.

The Drung is one of China's smallest ethnic minorities. With a total population of about 5,816 (as of 1990), the Drungs mainly live in the Drung River valley in the Gongshan Drung and Nu Autonomous County in Yunnan Province's northwestern part.

After a family chooses the day for the New Year Festival, they invite their relatives and friends. The family carves breaches on a specially made wooden strip, which serves as an "invitation," before sending the wooden strips to other villages. When their relatives and friends receive the "invitation," they will know the date of the festival; they will also know the number of days left for the festival via the number of breaches on the strips.

Those invited will take various foods to give to the hosts. In the evening, all the villagers will circle around the campfire with the guests, tasting the food and enjoying the dances by the young girls and boys.

(Author: Jeff)

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