Thousands of tourists and ethnic Gelao people gathered at the Yaoshang Gelao Cultural Village of Shiqian county, Southwest China's Guizhou province, to celebrate their traditional Jingque Festival on March 23, the first day of February in the lunar calendar.

The traditional Jingque Festival on March 23 in Yaoshang Gelao Cultural Village of Shiqian county, Southwest China's Guizhou province.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The festival, with a history of 300 years, is a traditional celebration for the Gelao ethnic group. The Gelao people will offer sacrifices to the eagle that saved their ancestors. They believe that the ceremony can pray for good harvests and thriving families.

Traditional Maolong and Chadeng dances as well as stunts like walking on knives were presented during the ceremony.

The ethnic Gelao people perform the traditional Maolong dance in Yaoshang Gelao Cultural Village of Shiqian county, Southwest China's Guizhou province.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhou Sirong, 80, came to the festival with her whole family of 21 members from Laozhai village, about 45km away from Yaoshang Gelao Cultural Village.

"There were no roads in the past. It took half a day to walk out from our village, sometimes even a whole day if it rained. Now with only two hours we can arrive here by bus. Without the development of transportation, I could never go out at my age," she said.

As rural tourism in Yaoshang becomes more and more popular, quite a few local farmers are turning to service providers. Wu Dayuan, 45, is one of them. Born in a farmer family, Wu began to sell local dishes in the cultural village five years ago.

According to Wu, there are about 50 families with 300 people in Yaoshang that have devoted themselves to the tourism industry, boosting their income by over 1,000 yuan ($160) a day during peak season.

Yang Fangquan, head of the Shiqian publicity department, said the newly-built expressway has had a great effect on Shiqian's tourism industry."There were only 3,000 hotel beds in Shiqian three years ago. But the number has surged to 10,000, with the occupancy rate over 85 percent. Shiqian has tasted the sweetness of convenient transportation with over 8,000 vehicles running on the highway and about 5,000 tourists visiting scenic spots every day."

Chen Liping, director of the Shiqian tourism development committee, said,"We always make ecology a priority and combine tourism with ecological agriculture and traditional culture to lead local people to strive for a comfortable life."