CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- As the highlight of the Chinese Culture Going-abroad Brand Activity themed on “Land and Sea Appointment - Dragon in England”, on February 8, Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance will debut at the Spring Festival Lighting Ceremony of the Year of the Dragon at “London Eye” which is the famous landmark in London, England, presenting a visual and cultural feast for the local audiences.

Such Chongqing Tongliang Dragon arrived in London from Chongqing on January 16, and it is the “emissary” of 2024 Chongqing Urban Culture Promotion Event in the U.K. themed on “Land and Sea Appointment - Dragon in England” for Happy Chinese New Year in the Year of the Dragon.

As one of the national intangible cultural heritages, Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance has a long history and profound cultural deposit. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Tongliang Dragon won praise in southeast Sichuan for its exquisite production technology and magnificent dance performance. With the change of people’s aesthetics and needs, Tongliang Dragon Dance has gone through three important stages of development. Nowadays, Tongliang Dragon is carried out innovative design on the basis of traditional dragon, and it is more heroic and lively, with the appearance of swallowing clouds and spitting out mist, and capturing the sky and the earth.

It is a “competitive dragon” making performance in London this time. It is 18 meters long, and it is hand-made by Zhou Jian who is Chongqing Tongliang national intangible heritage inheritor in more than one month. The complex craftsmanship and festive colors of such dragon not only demonstrates the superior skills of traditional Chinese handicrafts, but also conveyed people’s good wishes for prosperity.

The performance will be led by Chung Ching Tong London Lion Dance Troupe. These dragon dancers were practicing the movements of Tongliang Dragon Dance again and again according to the instructional video of Tongliang Dragon Dance.

According to the British partner, as a representative of Chinese New Year folk cultures, such Chongqing Tongliang Dragon will appear at the “London Eye” Lighting Ceremony, and then participate in a series of activities such as London Chinatown Chamber of Commerce New Year Parade and Trafalgar Square New Year Celebration on London time February 8, presenting a dragon dance performance for British audiences, bringing New Year’s wishes to them, and showing the charm of Chinese culture and the urban cultural characteristics of Chongqing. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)