Khalkhas

        Festival:

        Nuolaozi Festival is a grand festival of Khalkhas, which is held in the first month of each lunar year.

        On the festival, all households are busy and lively. All the people will wear new clothes and hold various activities. The first task to parents of each household after getting up is to burn a heap of cypress sticks in the center of the house, and hold the branch with dark smoke to make one circle around the head of each family to wish them safe and happy. Then take the cypress branch with dark smoke to the door of livestocks staple and make the livestocks to stride over the smoke to pray for fast growing and quick multiplying of the livestocks.

        All households start to cook Nuolaozi Meal after sunrise. To kill no more livestocks to cook the meal, and the residual grains of the past years should be used in cooking. The meal should be as rich as possible to show the meaning of ample food and clothing and harvest in every year. After the meal, all people will gather together at the grassland to have various games and activities as horse race, push and pull on horse, object fetching on horse, holding sheep in mouth, wrestling and push and pull, etc. After sunset, all households will entertain the guests and all people will start to sing and dance.

        Religion:

        The 18 th of the fourth month of the lunar year is the day for Khalkhas to sacrifice the hamadryad.

        Some big and fat cows and sheep are selected to sacrifice the hamadryad to pray for blessings. At the same time, the horse race and arrow shooting contest will be held. The Charles's Wain will be sacrificed on 15 th of the 10 th month of the lunar year, and all households will make a Buddha lamp with buckwheat flour and offer for sacrifice by firing butter oil lamp.

        On the morning of 1 st of the first month of the lunar year during the Spring Festival, the family should first kotow to the God in the room before paying New Year visits to the families, and then should kotow to the elders to congratulate the New Year. Two heaps of cow dungs have to be fired to substitute wolf smoke and to exorcise and avoid disaster.

        Taboos:

        Khalkhas is a nation favors cleanness and emphasizes manners. Therefore they have many rules to follow in their routine lives, and misunderstandings will be caused provided one has no understanding of these rules.

        You are prohibited to pour leftovers on the ground when you eat at a Khalkhas home. The guests should try their best to eat up the food in their dishware, otherwise it will be deemed disrespect to the hosts and the hosts may think you don't like what they have cooked. Cough or clearing nasal mucus should be avoided during conversations, and you should turn you head aside when you cough.