The Naadam Festival: A feast for the grassland nomads
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E-mail CGTN, July 17, 2018
Raucous crowds, the sound of hooves clattering, emerald steppes dotted with yurts – for local residents in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Naadam Festival is, by all means, the most magnificent event of the year.
Ethnic Mongolians hold the five-day festival on the fourth day of the lunar month of June annually, paralleling the harvest season in the grassland. The premier summer event kicked off on July 16 this year.
Naadam, also known as “Nair,” means entertainment, and gambling in ancient times, in the Mongolian language, which shed light on the Mongols’ spiritual pursuits for freedom and power through a series of featured events.
Short for the local term “Eriyn Gurvan Naadam,” Naadam refers to “the three games of men” – horse racing, wrestling, and archery – that are all ancient military arts showcasing athletic prowess and skills.
It was included in the first batch of The National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China on May 20, 2006, and then inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO in 2010.
The riotous festival, by essence, is far beyond a bunch of sports competitions but also serves as a spiritual feast celebrated by the nomads who have had to withstand harsh environments – droughts and severe cold.
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