Pengshui county in Chongqing is developing its ethnic Miao cultural brands through grand folk events, hoping to promote them to the world.

A massive folk song and dance show was performed on Wednesday morning to open the 10th China Wujiang River Miao Flower Mountain Festival at Chiyou Jiuli City. Chiyou Jiuli City is a local landmark and the largest traditional Miao-style architecture complex in the Pengshui Miao and Tujia autonomous county, China's most populous Miao county. 

The magnificent performance and festival, which is listed as one of Chongqing's intangible cultural heritage events, awed visitors as well as audiences online.

Before the song and dance, packed crowds watched performers stage a tribute and sacrificial ceremony to Chi You, the ancient chieftain of the Jiuli Tribe and an ancestor of the Miao people. Today, Chi You is honored and worshipped as a deity of war and is also regarded as one of the significant and iconic ancestors of the Chinese people alongside the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor.

Later on Wednesday afternoon, contestants showed off their water sports stunts and took part in motorboat and stand up paddle (SUP) races in front of residents and tourists alike as part of the China Pengshui Aquatic Sports Meeting. 

Both the China Wujiang River Miao Flower Mountain Festival and China Pengshui Aquatic Sports Meeting marked their 10th anniversary this year, and the two events have become Pengshui's biggest in terms of scale and influence. 

Pengshui county head, Shi Qiang, said that the local government has been building the two cultural brands in order to help boost the local economy. "The two events fully demonstrate the three characteristics of being ethnic, ecological, and cultural, and take the path of high-quality development through cultural and tourism integration, creating a world-renowned Miao land."

Pengshui county has placed tourism as its pillar industry and besides the two events held on Wednesday, it is also exploring other folk festivals and the development of folk scenic parks and nature reserves. Local foods, handicrafts, ethnic dresses, silver embroidery, jewelry, and many other types of merchandise attract people to the area, while more and more movies, TV series, and pieces of literature make mention of the county. Currently, a total of 25 villages are engaged in rural tourism and have become role models to help rural residents find ways to wealth.

Back in 2012, the county received only 3.4 million tourists, compared to the more than 28.15 million tourists in 2020. The county's comprehensive tourism revenue has thus been raised from 1 billion yuan in 2012 to 14.4 billion yuan in 2020, government data shows.

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