Braving the rising mercury and glaring sunlight in Beijing on May 10, lion dance performers from the capital city’s Xicheng District were rehearsing for the upcoming Xicheng District Workers’ Games. The opening of the games would feature the Baizhifang Lion Dance, which is recognized as national intangible cultural heritage.
After the first round of rehearsals, the team members removed their heavy lion costumes and sought some shade to cool down. Their master, Yang Jingwei, a seventh-generation inheritor of this specific lion dance, carefully arranged the seven lion heads in a neat row, meticulously combing their manes.
“When I joined the team, my master told me
