Every year on the 25th day of the 7th lunar month, the Mosuo (摩梭) people around Lugu Lake celebrate a grand festival — the Mountain Worshipping Festival (朝山节), also called the Mountain Turning Festival (转山节), in honour of Goddess Gemu. Whole families pour out, young and old alike, and walk to the foot of Mount Gemu to burn incense, pray, picnic, sing and dance. It is the liveliest and most romantic day on Lugu Lake.
Who Is Goddess Gemu
Mount Gemu is the highest peak beside Lugu Lake, and the Mosuo call it the Goddess Mountain. Two legends about Goddess Gemu are told most widely.
One tells of a clever, beautiful girl from Zhebo village in Yongning (永宁). Her name was Gemu: she could sing and dance, worked hard, and every young man came courting her through the Walking Marriage tradition — even a god in heaven set his heart on her. One day the god swept her up in a whirlwind, but in his haste he fumbled and dropped her; Gemu fell to the ground and became a mountain — Mount Gemu. The people sing their reverence: "Beautiful Mount Gemu, / green pines are your clothes, / drifting clouds your hair, / the lines on the cliffs your brows, / Lugu Lake your mirror, / the Yongning plain your seat."
The other legend makes Goddess Gemu the very origin of Lugu Lake: she was a romantic goddess who often rode a white horse and played a bamboo flute, and a god from afar would hurry to meet her; reunited after so long, they forgot the passage of time. When dawn came, the god had to ride back to heaven. Reluctant to part, he turned his horse for one last look — the horse missed its footing and stamped a deep hoof-print into the ground. The goddess's tears pooled into Lugu Lake, and the pearls the god scattered became the lake's small islands. They remain on the shore to this day, two statues of love.
How the Festival Is Celebrated
The Mosuo revere nature, believing that heaven, earth, sun, moon, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, trees and birds all have souls. In people's hearts Goddess Gemu is the goddess of harvest, peace, marriage and love — a woman who cannot conceive will pray at the cave of Mount Gemu and be blessed; young men and women who become lovers also ask Goddess Gemu to bear witness.
At dawn on the 25th day of the 7th lunar month, just as the sun rises over the mountains, the lamas of Zhami Monastery (扎美寺) in Yongning gather to chant sutras, then put on their monk's robes — cockscomb hats or winnowing-basket hats, red and yellow kasayas — and the young lamas lead the horses as the column winds its way up the mountain path towards Mount Gemu. Behind the lamas crowd the worshippers in red and green, some carrying food, some firewood, whole families on the move.
At the foot of the mountain, the lamas pitch white tents and chant sutras, while people gather in threes and fives, each clan choosing its picnic spot. Facing the Goddess Mountain, they kneel and kowtow, then walk into the sacred grove to burn incense, scatter incense powder and tie strings of colourful prayer flags to the trees. When the worship is done, the cooking pots come out and a hearty lunch is cooked in the open air. In the afternoon there are lion dances and phoenix dances, and then everyone joins the circle of the cheerful guozhuang dance (called "jia cuo" in the Mosuo language); those who prefer not to dance can swing on swings or race horses. The whole mountain resounds with song, laughter and a sea of people.
Why It Is Called the Valentine's Day
This is a festival centred on women — people say that on this day the goddess meets the mountain gods to "roll dice": if she loses, she flies into a rage and Yongning will be overcast with thunder, lightning and driving snow. So every household turns out in full strength to cheer the goddess on, praying that she wins completely and keeps Yongning safe.
For couples in Walking Marriage, the Mountain Worshipping Festival is a true Valentine's Day: as evening falls and the crowds drift away, only the "axia" (lovers) with endless words to share deliberately slow their steps and wander through the mountain scenery, wishing the sun would set sooner.
How Visitors Can Join
The festival falls on the 25th day of the 7th lunar month (usually late August to September in the Gregorian calendar), at the foot of Mount Gemu on the Yongning side of Lugu Lake. On this day you can follow the locals to the Goddess Mountain to burn incense and pray, watch the lamas chant sutras, see the lion and phoenix dances, or join the circle of the guozhuang dance. If you happen to be at Lugu Lake on those days, it may be the closest you ever get to Mosuo culture.
Related reading: When is the best time to visit Lugu Lake? A guide to scenery and what to wear · How to tour around Lugu Lake: the complete 70 km loop guide