The 2014 China-Leishan Ethnic Miao Intangible Cultural Heritage Cultural Festival recently opened in Leishan, Southwest China's Guizhou province.

Ethnic Miao women parade in the 2014 China-Leishan Ethnic Miao Intangible Cultural Heritage Cultural Festival.[Photo/gz.people.cn]

More than 12 ethnic Miao teams joined the event. They dressed in colorful ethnic Miao costumes to show their folk culture to the public.

The event is a great occasion for the ethnic Miao people in Guizhou province.

During the festival parade, ethnic Miao women put on silver earrings, necklaces and hairpins and sang and danced joyously.

The ethnic Miao new year celebration in Leishan, Southwest China's Guizhou province [Photo/Li Xue]

The festival has been held annually since 2000, but saw the most people ever this year, with more than 1,000 participants attending.

Various local Miao cultural groups or organizations came to the festival, including a sheng (a wind pipe) group, drum group and Leishan folk song group.

According to the information provided by the Leishan local government, Leishan has a population of 160,000, mostly of ethnic Miao, who make up 84.2 percent of Leishan's total population.

The ethnic Miao reunion dance [Photo/Li Xue]

The world's largest ethnic Miao village, Xijiang Miao village, is located in Leishan.

Leishan is known as the "Origin of Miao" and the "World's Miao Village." It preserves most ethnic Miao cultures and heritage.

In recent years, Leishan has transformed from a remote village to a place known by many people at home and abroad thanks to the development of the local tourism industry.

According to statistics, in 2013, 4.15 million tourists came to Leishan, realizing tourism revenue of 2.92 billion yuan ($477.6 million).

From January to September of 2014, the county welcomed 3.7 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent so far, realizing a tourism revenue of 2.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28 percent so far.

Leishan county is rich in cultural heritages, with the Miao new year, Guzang Festival, silver forging techniques, stilted house construction techniques, drum dance, ethnic Miao songs and medicine all on the national intangible cultural heritage list.