The Gushihui, or story fair, in Chenzhou's Rucheng County has a long history of more than 270 years. It is a distinctive folk culture activity in the county, featuring profound artistic connotations. 

All the stories shown at the fair are completed, based on ancient allusions, legends or romantic plots in modern life. Performers wore traditional dramatic facial makeup and costumes. 

A grand story fair was held on February 19 morning in Rucheng County as a folk celebration of Spring Festival. Tens of thousands of residents and tourists were attracted.

A total of 18 stories were presented at the story fair this year, choreographed by Yunshan and Yidao villages. Each village staged nine stories, including Mu Guiying Takes Command and Wu Jia Po. Thousands of people in long queues marched along the performers, leading by a gold and a red dragon. 

Each story was staged on a "story shelf", performed by two or three children aged between 2 and 13 and lifted by four people. The children as leading actors of the stories wore dramatic costumes and traditional facial makeups of Chinese classical figures such as Guan Yu, Wu Song, and Sun Wukong. Hundreds of people lifted these story shelves to cruise along streets and lanes for celebration.  

Accompanied by drumbeats and folk music, the performing troupe marched along the scheduled routes. Audiences set off fireworks and firecrackers along the streets, and presented snacks and fruits to the performers to express their appreciation. 

All the photos were taken by Zhu Xiaorong.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunantoday