The first Lunar New Year’s Shopping Festival of Guzhang County opened at Derun Square on the morning of February 2.
On the site, the unique intangible cultural heritage (ICH) skills performances such as sugar painting, climbing a tall ladder with sharp blades, and spurting fire attracted many citizens.
Sugar painting is a traditional folk craft and an ICH item, particularly popular among children. Zhao Shunsheng, an inheritor of sugar paintings, made a dragon-shaped sugar painting on the site for children, allowing them to soak up the unique charm of sugar paintings up close, welcoming the arrival of the Year of the Dragon. The witty sugar paintings showcase the charm of traditional Chinese folk culture and make people feel the sweet taste of Chinese New Year.
Long Defang and Xiang Qiuxiang, inheritors of climbing a tall ladder with sharp blades and spurting fire, are a couple with over 20 years of performance experience.
Before the performance, Long Defang stepped forward to cut a red rope with the sharp blade to verify its authenticity. After a simple ceremony, Long Defang climbed up the ladder, with his waist and buttocks arching slightly backwards. Then his wife followed his footsteps to climb to the top and then steadily went down the ladder.
Subsequently, Xiang Qiuxiang staged the spurting fire show. A “fire dragon” was spurted out from her mouth, accompanied by thick black smoke around the flames.
Long Defang and Xiang Qiuxiang said, “We want to inherit and promote the ICH, and let people around the world feel the charm of our traditional Chinese ICH.”
