The symbolic sculpture in Zhanjiang shows a kind of "dance" with 38 bronze statues by the sea, which is called "a must in the East"

This is the stop where Shanshan loves life, photography, travel and food.

When you travel to a city, you want to feel the culture of the city. One of them is to look at the iconic "sculpture" of the city. A good sculpture not only contains the history of a city, but also contains rich culture and art, which can arouse people's memories. Shanshan visited Zhanjiang this time, and a landmark sculpture "Dragon Dance" consisting of "38 bronze statues" standing on the coast left a deep impression on her.

Gold Coast Seaview Corridor, also known as Xiashan Seaview Corridor, is one of the local environmental protection projects to build Zhanjiang into a regional central city and promote Zhanjiang's second venture. Free to citizens and tourists, no business atmosphere, no sea of people. Therefore, whenever I have free time in the morning and evening, when the sun rises and sets, Shanshan will stroll along this beautiful seascape corridor, where I can spend a wonderful time in Zhanjiang.

Every time, Shanshan Santou walks to the "Dragon Dance" sculpture on the main platform of the mangrove plank road in Guan Hai Corridor, she always stops to savor this iconic sculpture that reflects the "traditional dance soul of Leizhou Peninsula" through the brilliance of sunrise and sunset, as if she can't get enough of it.

Dragon dance is the product of special social and historical factors and regional natural conditions. The "Dragon Dance" in Zhanjiang began in the late Ming Dynasty. The Ming army defeated by the Qing army retreated to Leizhou Peninsula and Dongdao in the Mid-Autumn Festival. In order to boost the morale of the Ming army, the local people arranged a dance, which was later the dragon dance. Since then, the dragon dance has spread in Zhanjiang and reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty. At this time, the people's dragon dance was integrated into many customs of ancient island people, such as entertaining dragons, worshipping dragons, offering sacrifices to the sea, worshipping ancestors, offering sacrifices to gods, etc., which reflected the unique performance form and spirit of the people's dragon dance.

You know, the dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation. People's Dragon Dance embodies the spirit of unity and forge ahead of the Chinese nation, contains the cultural connotation of harmony between man and nature and benefiting mankind, is a symbol of the Chinese spirit, is the most common form of entertainment for China people in auspicious and blessing seasons, and is an extremely precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.

The sculpture of "Dragon Dance" in front of Shanshan's three daughters is a dragon dance form of a large performing artist in Zhanjiang. It consists of "38 bronze statues" and stands on the observation deck by the sea, which is magnificent. The basic size of this "Dragon Dance" sculpture is 16m× 4m× 0.3m high, and the paste material is South African platinum sand (black). The composition of the sculpture is: 1 dragon dancer adult sculpture, 2.3 meters high and made of 3 16 stainless steel; 18 adult sculpture, 2.3m high, made of high quality copper; 19 youth sculpture, 1.8m high, made of high quality copper.

On the side of the subjective landscape platform, that is, on the side of the statue of human dragon dance, there is a brand that introduces the "human dragon dance" in Zhanjiang in detail: human dragon dance is a unique folk festival performance in Zhanjiang and is popular in Leizhou Peninsula. It has a history of hundreds of years. Because of its uniqueness and appreciation, it shows an optimistic and positive spirit and outlook. He was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and enjoyed a high reputation. This is a famous performance in Zhanjiang.

After reading the introduction on the sign, Shanshan's eyes moved back to the statue of dragon dancing. Although the statue in front of me only shows a fixed movement, through the movement, many pictures emerge in my mind: the adults in the performers have mastered the steady movements and footwork of quickly carrying people on their shoulders, and they have formed a smooth and changeable formation with their children on their backs. The whole dragon dance includes unique performances such as starting a dragon, nodding a dragon, crossing clouds and rolling waves, which also reflects the extension and development of loong culture.

After this time, during her stay in Zhanjiang, Shanshan learned more about dragon dancing in the communication with local people, so that she always hoped to have a chance to see the dragon dancing performance on the spot. And to see the "dragon dance performance", you have to go to Zhanjiang East Island. Because the dragon dance is known as "the best in the East" in Weidong Village, dongshan town, the East Island of Zhanjiang. During the performance, dozens to hundreds of young adults and teenagers wore shorts and connected with each other to form a "long queue". Amid the deafening sound of gongs and drums and trumpets, the "Long Dragon" has a high dragon head, a tumbling dragon body and a swinging dragon tail. Like a dragon at sea, it is unstoppable, showing a unique island color and strong local flavor. It is an important part of the enduring folk customs and large-scale square entertainment activities in the East Island and even Leizhou Peninsula. Every Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and some major festivals, Weidong Mountain Village will dance for several nights. Every household in the east and west streets is decorated with colorful decorations, and their nests are crowded with people.

Because the performing art of dragon dance is loved and recognized by many people. 20 13, 12, Zhanjiang East Island People's Dragon Dance won the 11th Chinese Folk Literature and Art Award "Mountain Flower Award", Guangdong Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Project, 2019, the list of national intangible cultural heritage protection units was announced, and Zhanjiang People's Dragon Dance also won the award.

At this time, looking at the statue of "Dragon Dance" standing by the sea is very magnificent and will be a major tourist highlight in Zhanjiang. Unfortunately, the arrival time of Sansan is not a coincidence, and it is impossible to witness a real "dragon dance" performance. It's really a pity. I hope to have the opportunity to witness a live-action performance of "Dragon Dance" in the future.