awash with a sea of colour, sounds and smells, a stunning water carnival has exploded into life in china the annual water temple fair in jiangnan, china, sees thousands gather on boats to pray for good fortune for the upcoming year locals dress up in traditional costumes, while boat races, drumming and dragon dances bring a carnival atmosphere to the town of jia xing riot of colour: the water temple fair in jiangnan, china, sees thousands gather on boats to pray for good fortune for the upcoming year  superstition: people travel from nearby towns to join the net boat fair other water temple fairs are held around chinese new year fishermen from the area take their boats out for show, hoping for good fortune and blessing  extravagance: an aerial view of the 2015 china jiangnan net boat fair which commemorates an ancient hero  starting on different dates in the western calendar, the fair happens annually according to the chinese lunar calendar this year, it began yesterday and the celebrations are expected to last three to seven days, with festivities sometimes being extended to a month long one of the highlights of the carnival is the net boat fair which showcases the unique culture of jiangnan water people one of the most anticipated performances is the 'tie the perfume to your skin' which sees performers attach metal hooks to their forearms on the other side of the hook hangs a censer containing incense or sometimes even heavy anchors with flowers in them to mask the natural smell of the fishing town locals dress up in traditional costumes, while boat races, drumming and dragon dances bring a carnival atmosphere to the town of jia xing  the traditional local folklore carnival pays homage to liu chengzhong, a figure who led people in annihilating locusts in the yuan dynasty  tradition: fishermen and their families dress up in traditional clothes about 50 different folklore groups and nearly two thousand people will be joining the celebrations it will be the biggest net boat fair in 60 years  the fair commemorates general lui chengzhong, a hero in the yuan dynasty (1279 1368), who successfully eliminated pests during a massive drought when the yuan dynasty came to an end, general lui killed himself by jumping in the river as an act of loyalty to the yuan emperor the locals built the lui king temple for him and celebrated his heroic acts mr li, one of the participants, told jia xing ping dao: 'i am the sixth generation to come to this temple fair 'my great grandfather once said the celebrations were even more extravagant than what we have now 'we want to pray for safety and for the gods to give us proper weather next year' music and beats: little drums are used to scare away angry spirits this event was listed as one of the intangible cultural heritage in china in 2011, along with chinese abacus, an ancient calculator  cultural heritage: fishermen prepare shrine offerings, including food, wine, pork, fruit and snacks an elaborate ritual will be performed on the boats to give thanks to the gods and the ancestors  the net boat fair has already been included in the list of chinese intangible cultural heritage one of the most important agenda this year is giving out the 'folklore religion activity' certificate to the liu king temple jiangnan mayor liang bokai sauid: 'this marks the first certificate of its kind it is a massive step for the preservation, promotion and legacy of this folklore religion in the liu king temple 'we will further promote our local customs and culture and combine it with tourism in order to put out a new image' jiangnan folklore: 'stepping on whites boats' is a custom for fishermen their boats are known to be very unstable because of the exceptionally long frame fishermen remodel the boats with a wooden see saw in the middle two people stands on the edge of both sides and jump to make the boat go forward  tourism: it is a very popular tourist attraction as well vendors and shopkeepers appeal their products to passers by, participants gather for pictures and others pray for blessings 
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