There are several links in the Qiaoqi Festival in Xihe County, Gansu Province.

The whole activity is divided into seven parts: sitting skillfully, welcoming skillfully, offering skillfully, worshiping skillfully, entertaining skillfully, giving skillfully and sending skillfully.

The custom of begging for cleverness in Xihe area has rich cultural connotation and remarkable regional characteristics. This custom was interrupted for a period of time after the founding of New China, and resumed in 1980s. Before the founding of New China, due to the influence of traditional consciousness, some wealthy local families exercised strict control over their girls. Generally, after 12 and 13 years old, they are no longer allowed to go out and walk around in front of people.

But in the 20-20 days before and after the beggar's festival, no matter day or night, family members generally don't ask much. Girls from poor families, no matter how many people there are in the family and how busy they are in farm work, generally don't arrange jobs for these twenty or ten days. In an unrestrained and free environment, girls sing and dance day and night, offering sacrifices and begging for wisdom.

On the night of Tanabata, the girls looked up at the starry sky, looking for Altair and Vega on both sides of the Milky Way, hoping to see their annual meeting, praying to God to make themselves as ingenious as Vega and to have a happy marriage. It can be said that the begging festival is a rare happy time of their year.

An ingenious begging ceremony

From the evening of June 30th to the end of July 7th, the whole process lasted for 7 days and 8 nights. Rich in content and grand in ceremony. When the statue of Empress Joe was placed on the altar, all the preparations before begging for cleverness were over. The annual flattering activity began enthusiastically, devoutly and step by step.

Every Dragon Boat Festival, boys, girls and children in Xihe area have the custom of pricking their hands and skin. That is, the red rope is woven into various patterns and tied to the wrist, which is called a half-leather hand to achieve good luck and safety. Wait until seven o'clock in July. The girls' hand skins also have another function, that is, when they are tied for convenience, they are used for bridging when Empress Joe goes down the Tianhe River.

According to legend, as soon as the Queen Mother said that the Jade Emperor had painted a golden hairpin in the sky, a turbulent Tianhe appeared immediately, blocking the cowherd and the weaver girl on both sides. From then on, before Empress Joe came to heaven, she had to build an overpass. Bridging needs a lot of ropes. The scalper who works with Cowherd goes to the town to tell the clever girl that hand skin is the best rope for bridging.