Danu Festival is a traditional festival of the Yao people in Guilin Province. It is celebrates on the May 29th of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Danu means "never forget" in the Yao language. The Danu Festival is the biggest traditional festival among Yao people which involves dancing, sporting events, and commerce.
The Yao people inhabit mainly in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Yao people live mainly in forests and mountains that are above 1,000 meters in altitude. They are endowed with magnificent mountains, beautiful rivers and abundant resources such as timber, water, minerals, as well as other tourist attractions. Yao people are settled in the villages at the foot of the mountains. In general, dozens of families form a village, neighboring villages of the Han, Zhuang, Dong, Hani and Miao peoples. Some Yao people also live with other ethnic groups in the same village.
The Yao people have their own language, which belongs to the Miao-Yao sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. There are also different kinds of dialects of Yao people’s language. Coexisting with people of the Han and Zhuang, the Yao people in different areas also speak the languages of other ethnic peoples. As the Yao people do not have their own written forms, they use the Chinese writing system instead.
Yao women’s headwear is characterized by delicate design and diverse patterns. Silver hairpin, silver flower, silver bead and crescent silver band are decorated with colorful ribbons to make it stand out. The headwear keeps one from knowing whether the woman wearing it is young or old, married or unmarried.