Nansha's adorable lion dance wows crowd

Two villages of Guangzhou's Nansha district, Dajing, and Datang, collaborated to organize a cultural communication activity on Feb 19, 10th day of the first lunar month. A lion dance performance went viral: an adorable lion danced to the beat of drums, showcasing flexible movements and occasionally saluting the audience.

The dancers are composed of a pair of siblings, the seven-year-old sister Zhang Zitong for the rear and the four-year-old brother Zhang Zishang for the head.

Zhang Zishang (L) and Zhang Zitong (R). [Photo/ WeChat account: nanshafabu]

These two little dancers' love for lion dance is rooted in their family, as their father used to be a member of a lion dance performance team. Through osmosis, Zhang Zishang became attracted to this traditional art. This boy started his lion dance journey at age two after his parents bought him a set of lion costumes to satisfy his curiosity. Soon, the sister Zhang Zitong joined the journey and became the boy's partner. The siblings have been learning many brutal actions under their father's guidance until today.

Nansha has a long tradition of Qilin Dance and Lion Dance, passed down for centuries in the district's Huangge town, integrating martial arts with intangible cultural heritage. Through the guidance of the masters and the practice of "entering campuses," more and more young people from Huangge are practicing Qilin Dance and Lion Dance.