STORY: Australian commentator experiences dragon dance in Chinese town
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 8, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 7, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:18
LOCATION: ZHONGSHAN, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the dragon dance in south China's Zhongshan City
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): CHEN XIHONG, Inheritor of Yunlong Dance
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JERRY GREY, Social media commentator and freelance writer from Australia
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): JERRY GREY, Social media commentator and freelance writer from Australia
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): JERRY GREY, Social media commentator and freelance writer from Australia

STORYLINE:

With the Year of the Dragon around the corner, an Australian media commentator living in south China's Zhongshan City visited a town famous for dragon dance and learned about how to make a dragon.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): CHEN XIHONG, Inheritor of Yunlong Dance
"Are you okay?"

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JERRY GREY, Social media commentator and freelance writer from Australia
"Yeah, I'm okay. I can't make it easily. Strong man."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): JERRY GREY, Social media commentator and freelance writer from Australia
"Hi, I'm Jerry Grey and I'm in Guzhen (Town). Everybody knows Guzhen is the 'city of lights' and there's something special about it. I'm in the village of Liufang, which has a very special dragon dance.
It takes over 200 people to perform it. I'm going to find out today how the dragon is made, and what it's all about. Let's take a closer look.
The Yunlong (Cloud Dragon) Dance is a traditional folk dragon dance that has been passed down for over 300 years in the Liufang Village, Guzhen Town. In 2011, the Yunlong Dance in Liufang Village was successfully included in the third batch of the national intangible cultural heritage list due to its long history, unique appearance, and rich dance skills and tricks.
In the past, on the 20th day of the first lunar month, the village of Liufang in Guzhen would hold a grand ceremony where about 200 young people would go to the ancestral temple and invite the Yunlong Dragon to join them in a dance.
As dusk fell, the lit candles illuminated the dragon's body. Then, led by flags and lanterns, guided by the dragon ball, and accompanied by props such as clouds and carp fish, the Yunlong would set off from Liufang Village and parade through neighboring villages for three consecutive nights."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): JERRY GREY, Social media commentator and freelance writer from Australia
"I can imagine how hard this would be for these guys to go all the way down Xingzhongdao in Zhongshan.
It's like a two-kilometer walk holding this thing and dancing with it. It would be really difficult. This is 28 jin, just 14 kilograms. Very heavy.
Before I came to China, I didn't know the difference between the dragon dance and the lion dance. I'm learning every day. This is a really, really interesting thing, but I'll tell you what I've got is a whole new respect for the people who do this.
This is a very heavy item to carry and they really do work hard making it, learning how to do it, and then actually performing it. There's a lot of hard work involved."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Zhongshan, China.
(XHTV)