Traditional carnival revives in south China as tourism rebounds

NANNING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Amid the ear-shaking sound of firecrackers and the eye-dazzling glitter of firelight, shirtless men danced a colorful bamboo-made dragon in the streets, as people threw lit firecrackers toward the dragon.

These were the scenes in Binyang County in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where people celebrated the traditional Paolong Festival, or literately translated as the Firecracker Dragon Festival, on the 11th day of the first lunar month, which fell on Wednesday this year.

The celebration activities had been suspended for about three years due to COVID-19 and restarted this year, attracting tourists from China and foreign countries, including the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, and the United States.

The festival was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. The dragon dance has a history of thousands of years in Binyang.

Different from normal dragon dances, the firecracker dragon is one of the most representative components of the dragon dance in the county. People throw lit firecrackers toward the dragon to drive away evil spirits and pray for peace and prosperity for the next year. Before the dragon dance, people gather in the streets to worship their ancestors and enjoy homemade meals.

Liu Zhenjun, a dragon dancer from the Sanlian Community team, said it has always been a tradition for dragon dancers to be topless, which represents courage and perseverance. "After the dragon dance started, everyone was too excited to feel pain when firecrackers exploded on our bodies."

According to the local firecracker dragon association, around 70 dragons were made by hand during the festival this year.

"The firecracker dragon culture has been well passed on. There are up to 40 handicraftsmen, including young people, who can make the bamboo dragon," said Zou Yute, an inheritor of the dragon-making craftsmanship.

A series of cultural and creative products based on the holiday culture have been developed to meet the increasing needs of tourists, said Zou.

"The dragon dance is amazing. It's my first time watching it and it's an unforgettable memory," said Tommy Tanu Wijaya, an Indonesian student studying at Beijing Normal University. He traveled to Binyang to celebrate the festival with his wife.

According to the local organizer, the county's hotels and restaurants were fully booked during the festival.

The revival of this traditional festival served as an epitome of China's booming tourism market during the 2023 Spring Festival holiday between Jan. 21 and Jan. 27. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, around 308 million domestic tourism trips were made in the period, up 23.1 percent from the same holiday last year, and recovering to 88.6 percent of the figure for the same holiday in 2019.