Longtaitou Festival in Shandong

People pay tribute to the dragon king of sea and god of salt on the occasion of Longtaitou Festival in Weifang, east China's Shandong Province, March. 2, 2014. The Longtaitou Festival, or Eryueer Festival, which means "dragon raises head" in Chinese, is the starting day of farm and fishery work of a year. People held the sacrificial ceremony to pray for seasonable weather with gentle breeze and timely rain in fishing and salt industry. [File photo/Xinhua]

The traditional Chinese Longtaitou Festival, or Dragon Head Raising Festival, falls on the second day of the second lunar month every year, which refers to the start of spring and farming. The festival falls on March 10 this year.

Ancient people believed that after the second day of the second month on the Chinese lunar calendar, the rain will increase because the rain-bringing Dragon King has awakened from his winter sleep.

There is a widely known idiomatic phrase which goes, "Er yue er, long tai tou". It means "On the second day of the second month, the dragon lifts his head."

The festival is a reflection of the ancient agrarian Chinese culture, and some of the old ways to celebrate the festival are no longer in practice, but some still carry on.

Hair cut on Longtaitou Festival for good luck

The most famous tradition on this day is to have a haircut. Some people believed that going to the barber on the second day of the second month would get rid of bad luck, while others believed it was very bad luck to get a haircut during the first month of the lunar calendar.

There's an old saying, "Cut your hair in the first month and your uncle will die." Nowadays most people pay no attention to the tradition but seniors say in the old days patrons would line up outside barber shops on the Dragon Head Raising Festival.

Students show fried beans to greet the the Longtaitou Festival in Zaozhuang city, East China's Shandong province, March 9, 2016. The festival falls on March 10 this year. [Photo by Ji Zhe/Asianewsphoto]

Food connected to the Longtaitou Festival

People in parts of Shandong province eat fried beans to celebrate the festival.

There are also food with dragon names. Dumplings, spring rolls and popcorn are all given dragon names. Noodles are called dragon's beard (long xu), dumpling are dragon's ears (long er), spring rolls are dragon's scales (long lin), and popcorn is called dragon seeds (long zi).