Pinghu Nine-Colored Dragon Pinghu Dragon Dance is commonly known as "Dragon Lantern". According to the "Collection of Chinese National Folk Dances in Zhejiang Volume", Pinghu Dragon Dance has a history of more than 300 years. It is said that there was a custom of dragon dance in Pinghu area in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It is usually performed during the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival or local temple fairs, especially during the Spring Festival, to express the people's wishes for good luck and a good harvest in the coming year. Pinghu dragon dance is rich in variety and colorful, including blue dragon, grass dragon, cloth dragon, bamboo dragon, golden dragon, water dragon, red dragon, nine-color dragon, etc. The production of dragon dance is very particular. The dragon body is composed of several sections, generally nine sections for large dragons and five sections for small dragons, and is wrapped with cloth with dragon patterns on the outside. The size and weight of the dragon head are different, depending on the dancer's physical strength, and generally weigh about 15 kilograms. Because candles are lit in the dragon head, it is called "dragon lantern". The Pinghu dragon dance has many different dance techniques, including the sea-going dragon, boat-shaking dragon, rolling dragon, big splitting dragon, zigzag dragon, high twisting dragon, leaping dragon, back-leaning dragon, kneeling dragon, lying dragon, etc. During the performance, both men and women wear colorful silk costumes from the Jiangnan water towns. Generally, men wear belts, looking heroic and upright; women wear short skirts, looking elegant. The Pinghu dragon dance is a combination of hardness and softness, inspiring joy, being cordial and harmonious, and exuding a vigorous spirit of striving for progress in the joyful rhythm of gongs and drums, with high aesthetic value. The most distinctive dragon dance in Pinghu is the nine-color dragon. In the mid-1980s, local cultural workers improved the dragon dance and created a very distinctive nine-color dragon: a big golden dragon and eight small dragons danced on the same stage, the dragon body was painted with nine colors, and the dragon head had nearly a hundred kinds of decorations, making the dragon more beautiful, flexible and full of spirit. Information source: Jiaxing City Library Information source: Jiaxing City Library