Chaozhou’s Phoenix Mountain is recognized as the cradle and ancestral residence of the She minority. Zhaobing Festival, a celebration of the She people, is a grand folk event featuring sacrifices, prayers and worship of totems and ancestors.

The Festival, celebrated around the winter solstice every three to five years, falls on an auspicious day selected by a religious master. What packs the three-day celebration is 28 activities out of four sections, i.e., prayers, an invitation to the gods for worship, the call for heavenly soldiers and the defense against evil. The ceremony, a local reverence for God Panhu, reflects the general’s hopes for wellbeing, an abundance of food, a harmonious and prosperous community and a continuation of Panhu’s spirits. This ethnic get-together, though, is known to be kept only by the She people living in Phoenix Mountain.

The lively celebration epitomizes the cultural treasures of the minority group. It shows an original picture of the native life, including religious beliefs, ethnic fables and legends, dialect, folk songs, music, martial arts, dancing, traditional costumes, dietary habits and migration. In 2007, it was listed in the 2nd batch of the provincial intangible cultural heritage.