Hani Village Hosts 300-Meter-Long Street Banquet to Celebrate Angmatu Festival

Hani Village Hosts 300-Meter-Long Street Banquet to Celebrate Angmatu Festival

Shortly after the New Year, Habo Village in Eza Township, Yuanyang County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province celebrated the Angmatu Festival, an important traditional festival of the Hani people. With a history of nearly 400 years, the festival features a spectacular hundred-meter-long street banquet, bringing together people of all ethnic groups to celebrate the harvest and strengthen community bonds.

Long Street Banquet, by Lu Mengni

At dawn, wisps of smoke rise from village homes while the aromas of specialty dishes such as terraced-field fish, bamboo worms, and smoked meat waft through the valley. On the festival day, Hani men, women, and children of all ages don traditional attire and bring their most prized dishes to communal tables. Hundreds of tables line the village street, stretching for more than 300 meters in a spectacular sight.

Blessings Sharing Ceremony on the Long Street Banquet. Photo by Tao Xuhui

At the Long Street Feast, people gather around communal tables, sharing delicacies and reflecting on a year of hard work and abundant harvests. Whether acquaintances or strangers, all who take a seat are treated as family. Filled with laughter and cheer, the festival serves not only as an occasion to share the fruits of labor, but also as an important bond that strengthens community ties and promotes ethnic unity.

Villagers invite tourists to join them at the banquet. Photo by Tao Xuhui

The Angmatu Festival is not merely a culinary feast, but also embodies the Hani people's traditional wisdom of following the rhythms of nature and living in harmony with the environment. Generations of Hani people, who have lived deep in the Ailao Mountains, have revered nature and held the mountains and forests in deep respect. Through centuries of agricultural practice, they have developed a way of life that harmonizes human activity with the natural world, giving rise to a world-renowned terraced-field civilization.

Every dish served at the Long Street Feast draws its ingredients from the terraced fields, forests, and rivers, offering a vivid expression of the Hani people's ecological philosophy of harmony between humanity and nature. In doing so, it adds a warm and vibrant contemporary dimension to this ancient festival.