CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- At the “Village Spring Festival Gala” Final of Yongchuan, a 6-year-old child Li Wenjie shocked audiences with his superb “fire-breathing” skills, and he was affectionately known as “fire-breather”.

On April 10, the reporter went to his hometown, Gaodongzi Village, Banqiao Town, Yongchuan District, to explore the “artistic childhood” of the “fire-breather” with exquisite skills.

The “fire-breather” is named as Li Wenjie. His father, Li Tianhong, as a well-known “acrobat” at the local area, owns a team of performers.

Under the influence of their father, Li Wenjie and his older brother Li Wenyuan developed a strong interest in performing arts when they were young, and Li Wenjie followed his father to learn the “Fire Breathing” performance of Sichuan opera from four years old.

“Fire Breathing” performance is one of the most spectacular tricks in Sichuan opera, which requires the performer to hold kerosene in mouth and spit it toward the torch to form a fire dragon in the air. It’s very impressive. It’s a skill that requires great skill and courage, and it’s even more difficult for a child.

However, Li Wenjie was not deterred by difficulties. Relying on his love for fire-breathing and his father’s teaching, he overcame difficulties step by step, and gradually mastered this skill. Until last year, Li Wenjie made his debut on stage, and was applauded by audiences.

Knowing how hard it is to be a professional, Li Tianhong didn’t plan to let his children practice with him at first, and he wanted them to focus on their studies.

To his surprise, when he was teaching his trainees, his two children came forward, followed and learned. Seeing that they were quite talented, Li Tianhong let them practice with him after they finished homework every day.

A minute on the stage takes ten-year practices. From then on, Li Wenjie had a unique childhood, and took torch as his nearest and dearest toy.

Li Tianhong told the reporter that “It’s heartbreaking”, “I thought of asking him to stop practicing for several times”, “but he likes it very much and he is very hardworking”.

In the course of performance, Li Wenjie became obsessed with “Face Changing” which is another Sichuan Opera stunt. He said: “I want to become a master of Sichuan Opera”. At the time when traditional skills got caught short, such sentence said by Li Wenjie made Li Tianhong happy for a long time.

Li Wenjie, who will be 7 years old in September this year, will go to elementary school, so Li Tianhong decided to let him focus on learning, but practice his skills with him after school; and he said: “I won’t decide for him, and I will let him do what he likes”. As a folkloric skills inheritor, Li Tianhong is glad at his decision, and also proud of his child’s ambition. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)