During the festival, families slaughter pigs and sheep, or chickens and ducks, and entertain relatives and friends. On the day before the festival, tofu, fish and shrimp are prepared, cooked in sour water that night, cooled overnight to become "frozen vegetables", and sacrificed to ancestors on the day of the festival.
Dong people believe that the year of labor has passed, crops are abundant after autumn, livestock are flourishing, farming is all completed, and the new year is coming soon. So some places regard November of the lunar calendar as the beginning of the new year, and some places regard it as the end of the old year. It is considered as the end of the old year here.
When people think that the old year has passed and the new year is coming, the valleys of Man Cang are full of livestock and poultry, and every household kills pigs and sheep to celebrate. This is the New Year celebration of the Dong people year after year.
2010May 18, the State Council, China announced the third batch of recommended national intangible cultural heritage projects (newly selected projects). The "Dong Year" declared by Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province was selected and included in the category of folk custom projects.