Tiaohua Festival, also known as Tiao Hua Po is a main festival of Miao people in Guizhou Province. In Liuzhi County, the Tiaohua Festival is usually held on January 10th in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It has evolved into a comprehensive annual event. Tiaohua Festival originates from Anshun City in Guizhou and was included into the second group of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008.
The main activities of Tiaohua festival features singing and dancing. During the festival, the Miao people dress up in their silver accessories. Men play the musical instruments and women dance with the music in the flower area. If a man plays well, he will not only win the applause from the audience but also the appreciation from the girls.
Nowadays, the festival has become a celebration event for the young to visit their parents. Other accompanying activities include competitions of climbing a flower-decorated pole, needling crafts and martial arts.
The term "Miao" gained official status in 1949 as an ethnic group in Southwest China. The Miao people live primarily in southern China's mountains, in the provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan. Some sub-groups of the Miao, most notably the Hmong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia.
Liuzhi Long Horn Miao is a minor sect of Miao Minority, and they reside in the remote mountainous regions in northwest Guizhou. There are only 4,000 Long Horn Miao by far. Long Horn Miao women are easy to identify, just look at their hairstyles. They use a one-meter long wooden horn to comb their hair above the head, which can weigh 5 kilograms.