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Fenghua Cloth Dragon

Updated : 2020-07-13

Fenghua Cloth Dragon is one of the country’s most representative dragon dances with a massive influence and a history of over 800 years. The frame of the dragon is made from bamboo and the external surface made of cloth.

A Fenghua Cloth Dragon has 9 to 27 sections, each individual section handled by a performer. 

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Fenghua Cloth Dragon performance [Photo/nbwh.gov.cn]

The essence of the performance rests in the flexible and vivid dance movements performed at rapid speeds. There are more than 40 movements all in all, such as coiling, rolling, wandering, turning over, jumping and playing, some of which are compulsory moves in the national dragon competition.

Fenghua Cloth Dragon has won many prizes at national and provincial levels, including the Excellent Prize for the National Peasants Music and Dance Competition and the Silver Prize at the National Dragon Dance Festival. 

In 1999, Fenghua Cloth Dragon was invited to perform in Tian’anmen Square for the "China Cloth Dragon Dance Competition" to celebrate Macao's return to the motherland, winning the silver prize at the celebration. 

It was added to China's cultural heritage list in 2008, with Chen Xingguo also recognized as a national practitioner of the art form.