The Qiang's New Year is the most important festival in the traditional culture of Qiang, symbolizing fortune and happiness. It falls on the first day of the tenth lunar month. Celebrations usually last three to five days, during which sacrifices are made to the god the heaven, the god of the mountain and the god of the village to show gratitude. Villagers then eat, drink and dance.

The Qiang's New Year stems from an ancient folklore. Once upon a time, the daughter of the heavenly god fell in love with a young Qiang man, and insisted on marrying him. She brought seeds of trees and grains with her, and grew them in the field. She also brought livestock to the Qiang People. In autumn, trees grew to forest, grains harvested, and domestic animals were well fed and bountiful. In order to show gratitude to her heavenly father, she offered sacrifices to him on Oct. 1^st of the lunar calendar, and prescribed the day an important festival to be celebrated every year.  

Shi Bi—envoy from the heaven 

On the Qiang's New Year’s Day, the Qiang people reunited with their family and relatives, making little flour cows, sheep, and chicken, and then sacrificing them to the gods.

The ceremony is hosted by Shi Bi. It is said that the predecessor of Shi Bi is “A Ba Mu La”, a deity in the heavenly god’s home who has dharma power and can tell fortunes, expell evil spirits, cure diseases, and exorcize ghosts. The heavenly god sent him to the mundane world to avert calamities. So he is regarded as the first Shi Bi of Qiang culture.