Pingtan Island is home to kind, guileless and diligent inhabitants. Since ancient times, folk customs in Pingtan are of distinctive insular features. Specifically, folk cultures like diet, marriage, birth and upbringing, festivities, socializing, and beliefs have much in common with Han Chinese elsewhere while the locals keep their own uniqueness. Meanwhile, there are slight differences of customs throughout the Island, some even varying from islet to islet and from village to village. As an old Chinese saying goes, “Customs differ even in a quite short distance.”

Snake Lantern Parade

The Snake Lantern Parade, also dubbed the Dragon Lantern Show, is a street folk show popular among the locals. In the parade, each participant carries a lantern frame with three lamps mounted and holds one cane in hand, which allows them to put the frame on the cane when relaxing. The whole frame features a dragon-looking head made of bamboo splints and a tail tied tightly with thick ropes by seven or eight people. In this way, the entire dragon lantern can be longer than 100 meters. As the dragon marches on the street, various lanterns create a dazzling light effect, making the parade a most noteworthy event.