PEOPLE: A Miao Singer at the liu yue liu Festival by Xianghong Feng. Caption: A Miao woman was enjoying singing at their liu yue liu Festival. The festival is held annually in Gouliang Village in western Hunan, China, sponsored by the local government. It features Miao singing competition among other Miao traditional performances. It attracts many Miao song masters and singers from western Hunan and eastern Guizhou. With a rich culture of oral traditions, singing used to be an important skill for them to communicate in their daily life, an art that is slowly disappearing due to the gradual penetrating of the market economy to their remote communities. The festival provides them a rare opportunity to put on their festival attire and show off their singing once a year. July 6, 2011. Photo courtesy Xianghong Feng