About 10,000 local people and visitors from Hong Kong and Macao flocked to Dongkeng on Monday. Dongkeng township, located in Dongguan, Guangdong is mythologized as the place of "meeting an immortal when selling oneself."

Visitors walk the town's 5 kilometer long street spreading the news "an immortal descends to the world," and line up to sprinkle and be sprinkled with magical water. They go shopping and appreciate decorated vehicles while searching for immortals. All these activities herald the beginning of the Mai Shen Festival, a Chinese folk custom on the second day of lunar February.

According to historical records, the Mai Shen Festival dates back to the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Lu Tongjin, a rich landlord of Tangsha Village, Dongkeng, put up a notice hiring skilled peasants on the second day of lunar February.

After seeing the notice, villagers came in droves to apply for the job. Other local landlords followed suit and put up notices. As time passed, young and strong peasants from the surrounding areas came to Dongkeng looking for masters on the same day every year. This practice gradually evolved into a local custom, famous for its name Mai Shen (selling oneself) Festival.

Dongkeng, hailed as a "second Macau," is the relay station for agricultural products coming from Dongguan on their way to Hong Kong and Macau. During the past few centuries, the customs of these three cities have integrated together as the triangular trade relationship developed.

Every year, thousands of people from Hong Kong, Macao and neighboring areas flock to the festival. For hundreds of years, fair trade, hiring contracts and a shared joy have remained as the major part of the festival.

Although no one would buy or sell employees today, customs such as enjoying local delicacies, ritual ablutions and meeting the immortals when shopping are still popular among the people. According to experts, no other traditional Chinese festivals have such customs and they are unique in China's historical and cultural heritage.

The Mai Shen Festival is regarded as the first folk festival native to Dongguan. The festival also boasts an ornamented vehicle parade, thousands of guns squirting magical water, as well as dancing performances by ethnic groups, such as the Uighur, Miao, Dong, Yi, Dai and Zang people.

Traditional festival foods include Daojiao Zong (a kind of pyramid-shaped snack made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves), Houjie Laifen (noodles made of rice), and Machong Paoyu (a dish made of fish) served in the more than one thousand eateries along the main street.
 
(Chinanews.cn March 15, 2005)