A grain of truth

The report also depicted scenes from the festival, where hundreds of locals walked around the farmlands with the leader playing a gong and drum.

In ancient China, a celebration to bid farewell to the flower gods was also an important custom during this period. It's contrary to the welcoming ceremony of the flower gods, which was marked on the second day of the second lunar month, when spring begins. During mang zhong, people held sacrificial ceremonies to bid farewell to the flower gods, showing their gratitude and expressing wishes to welcome the flower gods next year.

Other activities held during mang zhong earlier included mud wrestling and boiling plums, which are still popular today.

Youngsters of the ethnic Dong community in southwestern Guizhou province hold such wrestling matches during the period, according to China Folklore Network, a nonprofit founded in 1983.