The Raosanling Festival of the Bai ethnic group jointly organized by Dali Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, Dali Prefecture Bai Society, Dali Intangible Cultural Protection Management Office, and Qingdong Village, Xizhou Town, Dali City, kicked off at the main temple of Qingdong Village. The festival team gathered at the main temple in Qingdong Village, the “Shen Capital”, to exchange antiphonal songs and celebrate the festival together.
Rao Sanling is called “Guan Shang Lan” in Bai language, and is also recorded as “Rou Shan Lin”, “Rou Shan Lin”, “Wang Shan Lin”, etc. in Chinese writing. “Three Spirits” refers to the three symbolic gods in the Erhai area, namely: the Buddhist deity of Chongsheng Temple, the original owner of Aimin Jingdi Duan Zongbang of Qingdong Temple, and the original owner of Duan Chicheng, the Bai hero of Erhe Temple. These three temples dedicated to gods are called “Buddha Capital”, “Shen Capital” and “Xian Capital” respectively. Raosanling is based on the theme of worshiping these three places, with the worship of the Bai people as the content, and the singing, dancing and worship activities that entertain gods and people as the carrier. It is the Bai people’s long-term farming in the landscape and humanistic environment of Cang’er in Dali. It is an ancient folk festival and national event with unique national characteristics formed in daily life and rice farming customs. In 2006, the Raosanling of the Bai ethnic group was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage protection lists by the State Council.In recent years, the Xizhou Town Party Committee and Government have taken the opportunity of Xizhou Town being listed as a state-level rural revitalization demonstration site to give full play to its three advantages of strong national culture, long history and culture, and well-preserved Bai folk customs, and actively carry out the “Three Around Three” “Ling”, “Seedling Planting Fair”, “Torch Festival” and other folk activities have comprehensively improved the quality and efficiency of the town’s cultural tourism industry. In 2018, it received 3.67 million Chinese and foreign tourists and achieved a total tourism economic revenue of 256 million yuan. The thousand-year-old ancient town of Xizhou is exuding more charm and opening its mind to welcome tourists from all over the world.