“走近华蓥，走近华蓥，不说它的人杰，不说它的地灵，要说它的幺妹儿哟，华蓥山的幺妹子最多情。她在青山里长来，绿水里生，十八的幺妹悄悄长成人。华蓥山的幺妹是满山的红杜鹃，看也看不尽来，数也数不清；十八的幺妹是道好风景，看也看不尽来，数也数不清，她回头一笑哟，偷走你的心来勾走你的魂！”
　　
　　一首《华蓥山幺妹儿最多情》的民歌，使四川省华蓥山成为众多有情人神往的地方。
　　幺妹，是华蓥山民间赋予未成年女子和年轻漂亮女子的一个爱称。而滑竿抬幺妹，在华蓥山已有1250多年历史。据民间所传，早在唐至德年间（公元756—758年），华蓥山的高登山、宝鼎相继建立寺庙，香火鼎盛，每天朝拜的人络绎不绝。当时，未出嫁的女子即幺妹按习俗是不能出门的，更不能上山朝拜，煞是寂寞。华蓥山麓一张姓大户，有一双长得如花似玉的女儿，父母视为掌上明珠，呵护备至。但他们看见那些香客自由地上宝鼎朝拜，心儿早就飞上了山，然而由于封建思想的桎梏，姊妹俩只好在闺中惆怅，几年下来，美若天仙的她们竟渐渐地郁闷成病，父母找来多个高医诊治均不见效，此时一秀才听说此事，略一思索，便道：“这有何难？二月十九日后，你们出点钱，找个由头举办个比赛，将乡里想上山去拜佛观光的幺妹都抬上去，这不就遂意了吗？”张大爷听了此话，找来有威望的族人商量，决定举办“滑竿抬幺妹，祈求五谷丰”比赛。于是每年三月，这个地区都要举行抬幺妹比赛活动，漂亮的幺妹被抬上华蓥山拜佛观景，夺得第一、二、三名的不但能获重奖，还能当面相亲，找到如意郎君。这个活动后来由于朝代更迭、战乱兵荒，慢慢疏荒了。
　　近年来，华蓥市充分发掘和利用山区这一民俗文化资源，古今结合，文经联姻，相继举办了五届滑竿抬幺妹大赛。每次大赛不仅融入了新的内涵，而且参与的人越来越广，越来越多，其壮观场面让人惊叹！
　　2000年11月，华蓥市与浙江卫视联合举办了当代第一届“华蓥山八公里滑竿抬幺妹比赛活动”，50名被100个壮汉抬着的幺妹，在数万名观众的簇拥下，沿着溪口镇至宝鼎黄龙寺弯弯曲曲的山道快速出发，虽然路途较长，但滑竿和观众你追我赶，谁也不甘落后。那热闹壮观的场景，使沉寂多年的华蓥山苏醒了，沸腾了！尔后，2002年4月该市又举办了“第二届滑竿抬幺妹大赛”，当日华蓥久雨放晴，空气清新，蓥城华蓥山广场坝至华蓥山小山坝4公里的道路两旁，人山人海，争相目睹华蓥幺妹的风采和华蓥汉子的强悍。44位敦实的汉子抬着22位漂亮的幺妹，你追我赶，竞相奔逐，朝着华蓥山中的小山坝进发。在路旁观看的市民乐呵呵地说：“这个活动搞得好，抬幺妹是我们华蓥山的一个品牌呵！”2003年4月，该市在庆华镇天龙山举办了“第三届滑竿抬幺妹大赛”。当时，正是桃花盛开的季节，壮实的汉子，靓丽的幺妹，怒放的桃花，把天龙山点缀得分外妖艳和煽情。
　　
　　特别是2004年春天举办的首届“华蓥山幺妹节”，更是把滑竿抬幺妹活动推向了高潮。幺妹节上，首先推出的是“华蓥山靓丽幺妹大赛”。来自川东北地区的近100名选手通过预赛、复赛、决赛及选手自我介绍、才艺表演、体形展示，3名冠亚季军、7名“十佳幺妹”和8名最清纯、最时尚等幺妹脱颖而出。这18名幺妹组成的“靓丽幺妹团”，作为华蓥山幺妹品牌，参与外界交流活动。“靓丽幺妹大赛”一结束，幺妹节上的又一台好戏——“华蓥山第四届滑竿抬幺妹大赛”又拉开帷幕。是年的大赛较前几届更是盛况空前，18名“靓丽幺妹团”成员成了形象大使，与其他90名幺妹分别坐上108抬滑竿，由216名壮汉抬着，冒着纷纷春雨，行进于万人簇拥的十里长街，气势恢弘，让人叹为观止。之后的几天里，“幺妹团”成员又深入华蓥山天然大盆景和黄花梨基地等旅游景区，向游人充分展示华蓥山幺妹的风采。后来在2005年春天在华蓥市举办的“梨花节”期间，该市又借势在飘香的梨花中举行了“第五届滑竿抬幺妹大赛”。
　　近两年来，随着华蓥山区群众生活水平的提高，年轻人的婚礼形式正在悄然改变，具有本土特色的“滑竿抬幺妹”，渐渐成了他们婚礼中的首选。拿他们的话说，这种形式既可传承历史，同时还节俭朴素，何乐而不为呢！是啊，曾获全国民间体育活动项目金奖和四川省第一批省级非物质文化遗产殊荣、被推选为2008年北京奥运会展演项目之一的“华蓥山滑竿抬幺妹”，不仅在华蓥山区结成厚实的文化板块，而且融入了山区群众的现代生活之中。
　　
　　Beauties Launch Hundreds of Sedans in Mountain
　　By Qiu Haiying
　　
　　
　　The Huaying Mountain in southwestern China’s mountainous Sichuan Province is proud of a 1,250-year-old local tradition, which has been revived in recent years. It is an annual tradition of young men carrying unmarried girls through the mountain for sightseeing.
　　The tradition started in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The mountain became a destination for pilgrims during the dynasty when two Buddhist temples were built there. The local custom forbad unmarried girls to walk outside their houses freely. Two daughters in a rich family were distressed to sick by the taboo. Doctors could do nothing to relieve the daughters of the sickness. The worried father asked a scholar for advice and the latter came up with a clever solution, suggesting, “Why not host a competition every year in March to carry all the unmarried girls, in sedan chairs, to the temples if they wished to pay a visit?”
　　It was a good idea. Thus was born a tradition. Every year, a carrying competition would be held in March. On the day, a carrying race was staged. Unmarried girls were carried in sedan chairs and carriers raced to see who could carry their girls to the destination first.The first three winners would win abundant awards and even could decide who they wanted to marry after a big blind date with a large group of young admirers on the spot. The event went on for years and then it disappeared in history as dynasties replaced each other and wars interrupted peaceful life.
　　
　　The tradition has been revived in the Huaying Mountain recently as part of a program to help local tourism flourish and help economy take off. So far, five competitions of carrying girls through the mountain have been held since November, 2000.
　　The first event was jointly hosted by Huaying City and the Zhejiang Satellite TV. One hundred contenders carried fifty girls in sedan chairs and walked eight kilometers on zigzagging mountain paths. The race started at Xikou Town and ended at the Yellow Dragon Temple. The carriers moved fast and raced one another and thousands of spectators chased the sedan chairs to look at beauties.
　　In the following years, the race took place in different parts of the mountain and created ecstatic sensations, as local tourism authorities learned how to organize the event better and attract more attention.
　　In the spring of 2004, nearly 100 girl candidates went through a beauty contest before 18 were chosen as ambassadors of the girl-carrying festival. Later the winners group joined another 90 girls and took 108 sedan rides carried by 216 men. The parade went through streets, attracting thousands of local residents and tourists. In the following days, the parade proceeded to other scenic areas in the mountain. In the spring of 2005, the fifth girl-carrying festival was held.
　　
　　Just like a good solution to a dilemma in the first place, the girl-carrying ritual is now regarded by young people today as a solution. As local residents in the mountain area enjoy a better life, young newlyweds are beginning to include a sedan-chair parade as part of their wedding ceremony. In this way, they are able to enjoy a decent wedding celebration within a budget, introduce historical and cultural elements into their shared life, and eliminate some costly wedding extravagancies.
　　Now the event is no longer local. The beauty-carrying gala, a gold-medal winner of China’s folk sports events and an intangible cultural heritage of Sichuan Province, has been recommended as one of the demonstration performances for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games.
　　(Translated by David)