The “Qixi Queqiao Xian Hanfu Event” will take place on August 16, 2026, from 19:00 to 21:00 at the Tonghai Confucian Temple in Tonghai County, Yuxi, Yunnan Province, according to the Yuxi culture and tourism authority. A centerpiece of Tonghai’s “Rites and Music Tonghai · Fire of Midsummer” summer tourism program, the evening blends traditional handicraft displays, a small Hanfu market, a qiqiao needlework talent show, readings of Chinese classics and a traditional moon-offering ritual venerating the Weaver Girl — inviting Hanfu enthusiasts and culture lovers to experience Qixi inside an ancient temple complex.
Tonghai has long been known as the “homeland of rites and music.” The event’s venue, the Tonghai Confucian Temple, sits at the foot of Xiushan Mountain. First built in the Yuan dynasty with its main surviving structures dating to the Qing, it covers 12,000 square meters and is a provincial heritage protection unit. The temple rises along a central axis up the mountainside, layer upon layer; its palace wall, the Civilization Archway and the sun-and-moon ornamental columns are considered the architectural highlights. According to the Spring City Evening News, the temple recently passed the comprehensive evaluation of culture and tourism authorities and was officially rated a national AAA scenic area. Since 2008 the site has regularly hosted traditional ceremonies — the “opening-the-brush” rite for schoolchildren, coming-of-age rites and adult ceremonies — as well as festival observances such as Qixi qiqiao and Mid-Autumn moon worship. In 2025 it completed a full infrastructure renovation and management upgrade.
This summer, Tonghai County has pooled its cultural, tourism, sports and commercial resources into the “Rites and Music Tonghai · Fire of Midsummer” program, with four major sections and more than a dozen featured activities. Around Qixi, several guofeng events are lined up. On July 29, the “Lotus Charm Qipao · Graceful Xiulu” qipao show was held at Xiaohai Park in Nagu Town, where citywide qipao lovers walked the lotus-bordered lakeside runway. On August 2, the “Tang-Style Canopy · Lotus-Scented Tonghai” Hanfu garden party took place at Xiaohai Park, the “Lotus Meets You” base and Nagu Town’s food street, re-creating the Tang dynasty ladies’ spring outing “qunwo banquet” (canopy feast) alongside Hanfu performances, weaving traditional dress culture, historical gatherings and Nagu’s local scenery together; the dress code gave priority to orthodox Tang-style Hanfu such as Qixiong Ruqun, Yuanlingpao and Tang Daxiushan, with standard Song-style and Ming-style pieces also accepted. On August 19 at 14:00, Xiaohai Park will host two more events: “Lotus Breeze and Ink · Fan-Painting Qinghe,” a public lotus-themed fan-painting session, and “Qixi Appointment · Fate Gathers at Xiaohai,” a youth mixer with fortune-drawing, team challenges, lotus puzzles and poetry-matching icebreakers.
On the night of August 16, the Qixi Queqiao Xian event will let visitors move through the temple’s centuries-old halls to enjoy a Hanfu gathering, qiqiao performances and the moon-offering rite — a full immersion in the “Rites and Music Tonghai” atmosphere, and one of the most complete traditional Qixi experiences offered in Yunnan this season.
