Festive Activities
3 min readLion Dance and Dragon Dance
Lions live in Africa and South America. After the Han Dynasty, it was introduced into China. It is generally accepted that Lion Dance came into being as long ago as in the Three Kingdom, which was initially prevalent in the army and spread among the ordinary people afterwards.
Lion dance is a game very popular with the ordinary people. It usually appears in towns and villages on the Spring Festival and idolatrous processions, adding much to the joyous festive air.
The folk lion dance falls into the Northern Lion Dance(violent lion dance) and the Southern Lion Dance(gentle lion dance). Violent lion dance attaches importance tothe martial arts with nimble movements and high techniques. While gentle Lion dance focuses on facial expressions with exquisite movements which strives to depict lion’s docile and lovely bearings and dynamic, frolicsome character.
Dragon dance is the vestige of totem worship in ancient times. The performance was not only to pray for rain and offer sacrifices but also to entertain.
During the Tang and Song periods，dragon lantern dance already became ordinary artistic forms in the performance of traditional programs of shehuo（a religious procession）and team dance.Dragon dance，in the Ming and Qing Dynasties，was listed among folk festival entertainments with peculiar flavor.
Waist Drum Dance
Waist-drum dance boasts a long-standing tradition and enjoys great popularity in Ansai，northern Shaanxi Province.Characterized by a variety of drumbeats and accompanied with folk songs，percussion instruments and wind instruments，the unique Ansai drum dancing can be generally classified into”soft-swing dancing”and”martial artsdancing”.The performance scene is quite impressive with diversified arrays which integrate dance，song，gymnastics and vigorous martial arts movements.It serves as a display of the traits in the character of northern Shaanxi villagers，who are known far and wide as being valiant and heroic.Sometimes the number of performers may reach several hundred.The imposing scene is full of grandeur with great momentum.
It is a traditional custom for young people in villages in northern Shaanxito do the waist drum dancing to greet Spring Festival and Lantern Festival.A dancer with a red drum tied to his waist holds a drumstick with red silk，beating the drum while dancing.The rhythmical drum beats are full of power and grandeur and the dance is vibrant and vigorous，reflecting the straightforward and uninhibited character of villagers in northern Shaanxi Province.At the climax of the dance，dancers beat drums while jumping into the air，shouting”Haihai”excitedly.It is an expression of their happy and passionate feelings.
Setting off Fireworks
Almost every country sets off fireworks on important festivals.This traditionally ceremonial entertainment originates from China.The Dynasties of Sui and Tang saw the earliest fireworks which fell into two categories.One is gun-powered wire firework:figures，objects，birds，flowers，pavilions，buildings and many other varied patterns were made of metal wires on which gunpowder is coated.They present varied fantastic scenes against the background of dark night.The other is tube firework with gunpowder put into a paper tube.
After it is lighted，it will spurt multicolored flames.
In the Ming Dynasty，gun-powered wire fireworks changed from plane into three-dimensional ones.Different layers of gun-powered wires were vertically and horizontally arranged and designed.Then it was put into a big box to be hung on a stand.Ignited，the wires in the box catch fire and fell slowly layer by layer，demonstrating magical and dimensional sights.
