On August 15th, the 2020 Ershan Holy Water Festival was held with the theme of “love, respect and preserve water”. Tourists and photographer from nationwide all gathered in Ershan to learn the ancient water culture and to feel the auspiciousness and health bestowed by the holy water and amazing spring.
At nine O’clock in the morning, the Holy Water Festival started with the sacrifice and the prey for happiness at an ancient aobao (a local tradition stone pile with colorful streamers). Nine riders carried water from the Wuliquan Spring to the main festival site. When they arrived, a series of traditional customs would be held one after another, including holy water sacrifice, cultural performance, spring bath experience, blessing and making tea with holy water. Audience were participating actively. The event was covered by great atmosphere. The ideology of ecological civilization which enabled people to “love, respect and preserve water” was transformed into actions that were familiar to people, easy to spread and feasible to be passed down. During the festival, organizers also arranged other activities included a competition relating to water-themed paintings, poems and calligraphy, water culture-themed products exhibition, brewing beer with ancient method in Ershan, inheritance and development forum of water-related culture in Ershan and environment-friendly walking race.
In the opening ceremony, many online celebrities used live broadcasting or uploaded short videos to promote Ershan Holy Water Festival and to popularize the cultural and tourism resource of Ershan so as to let it be known by netizens all over China, so people could see it, learn about it, visit it and fall in love with it. Participating online celebrities included but not limited to Wang Xiaochao of TikTok with tons of millions of followers and Taipingge, known as “a leader to build a village of happiness”.
The Holy Water Festival in Ershan was a traditional festival in Ershan City of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Ever since 1993 when the first festival was held, there had been eight of them. The festival held this year aimed to integrate tourism+culture, tourism+sports and tourism+trade and economy so as to build the Ershan Holy Water Festival as a water culture event with widespread influence in China, a communication platform of water culture with international popularity and a tourism cultural brand to promote traditional Chinese culture.
The Cultural Exchange Organization of Presenting China to the World and the government in Ershan City jointly held “Inner Mongolia·Tourism Promotion of Ershan City” in Beijing in the May of 2014 as well as “The Most Beautiful China--Ambassadors to China in Ershan·Inner Mongolia”.