Many of China's minority groups drink wine to create a joyous atmosphere during their festivals. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the Yi people, who live in the Liangshan area, hold a special wine-drinking event. All of the men in the village go door-to-door, while singing, asking for wine. Over time, the number of men in the party will decrease, as men get drunk and fall behind. When a young man pays a New Year's call on an elderly person, he asks the village to drink wine with the senior When he visits the family of his fiancee, all of her young women companions sing, one by one, in antiphonal style with the man.If he loses the game, the women will“punish”him by smearing ashes on his face, and/or sprinkling cold water on him. During the festival, Yi villages are full of cheer and laughter, and the fragrance of wine fills the air. Wine is featured prominently during many festive occasions. The Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month) is a typical example. In addition to the Han, many minority people, such as the Mongolians, Huis, Tibetans, Miao, Yi, Zhuang and Koreans, celebrate the festival by drinking realgar wine. Drinking wine is also a major activity at many minority groups' festivals, such as the Tibetans' Bathing Festival (for seven days during the first half of the seventh month of the Tibetan calendar, with Tibetan people taking baths in rivers or lakes to wash away evil), the Good Harvest Festival (which falls in late July), and the Miao people's Sister Festival (which falls on April 8).
