Pictured is the event site.
Photo by Li Fu
China News Service, Chifeng, March 11th (Olan Shi Zilong) On the 10th, on the occasion of February 2nd of the Year of the Dragon, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region held the "Jade Dragon's Hometown, Dragon Heads Up·Dragon Walking on Stilts with Thousands of People" Parade" activity to pray for good weather and peace for the country and the people.
Pictured is the event site.
Photo by Nie Anqi
Chifeng City is the "Hometown of the Chinese Jade Dragon". In 1971, a dragon-shaped jade artifact known as "China's First Dragon" was unearthed here - a large "C"-shaped jasper carved dragon, a representative artifact of the Hongshan Culture.
Pictured is the event site.
Photo by Li Fu
At 10 o'clock in the morning that day, accompanied by the lively and festive sound of gongs and drums, 18 stilt-walking parade teams and more than 1,500 people in costumes lined up in a neat square array and slowly marched forward. The scene was spectacular and powerful, with bright costumes and classical appearances. The three-dimensional reproduction of the typical scenes of "announcement of spring, outing in spring, and fighting in spring" in "Welcome to Spring".
Pictured is the event site.
Photo by Nie Anqi
The approximately 2-kilometer stilt parade was full of joy and humorous performances that made citizens on both sides of the road laugh non-stop.
Wearing a red robe and full of wealth, the "God of Wealth" walks towards the audience on stilts, saying auspicious words while holding ingots in his hand and handing them to the audience for "good luck".
Tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets to "immerse" this traditional folk custom of welcoming the Spring Festival.
Pictured is the event site.
Photo by Li Fu
"It was very spectacular, and I was a little excited to see it. Especially the moment when the dragon raised its head, I was so excited!" Zhang Jingxian, a local citizen, crowded among the onlookers, with excitement on her face.
Stilts are a type of ancient Chinese opera. They have appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. Performers tie long pieces of wood to their feet to walk, jump and dance with swords.
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the characters on stilts had real names and plots, and the performers used movements to embody the plot. The stilts also had living characters and stories, making it a veritable stilt show.
Over the years, stilt performances have been active in Chifeng. In addition to traditional performance forms, there have been many innovations and developments in skills, performance difficulty, and performance effects.
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