The distant drum sounds, unique ethnic costumes, and exquisite skills can't help but make people intoxicated, as if they were in that ancient era. Qiangfan drum dance is a special form of song and dance handed down from the ancient Qiang people in the seventh century AD. At present, there is only one team in Luxi Village, Majiaji Town, western Weiyuan County, which is customarily called "beating Xifanpo" by locals. It uses sheepskin drums as musical instruments and props. There are 26 flag bearers to guide the dance, and more than a dozen young and middle-aged people holding sheepskin drums beat and dance. There are also more than a dozen boys and girls wearing colorful clothes and holding colorful scarves twisting and dancing. An old Xifan woman wearing a flowery shirt, a ribbon tied around her waist, and holding a shoe needle and thread joked with the male role in the performance, which was extremely humorous. Under the unified command of the old Xifan wearing a fur coat and holding an ox tail duster, the drummers performed four-door walking, dragon tail swinging, iron rope buckle and eight trigrams in turn, and performed difficult movements such as holding the drum around the head, bending the legs to rotate left and right, swinging and striding, and jumping with feet. The whole dance has the basic characteristics of dancing in a circle, drums and bells, agile movements, rough postures, no dancing when singing, and no singing when dancing. The Tibetan songs sung are blessings for good luck and good harvests. Qiangfan drum dance is the product of the ancient Tibetan and Qiang mixed residence. It originated from the sacrificial activities of the ancient Qiang people, and then gradually evolved into sacrificial dance Nuo, and gradually integrated into local festival literary and artistic activities, becoming the current art form. Qiangfan drum dance shows the integration of Tibetan and Qiang folk dances. It is a living carrier of ancient Tibetan and Qiang culture, implying the traditional spirit and cultural customs of the Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups, and has important cultural research value. The source of the Wei River was a multi-ethnic mixed residence of Tibetans, Qiangs and Han before the Song Dynasty. The marriage between Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty and King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet strengthened the great integration of the Tibetan and Han ethnic groups and promoted economic and cultural exchanges between Tang and Tibet. Therefore, the religious sacrificial activities of Han, Tibetans and Qiangs are widely popular among the people. Later, when Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty sent Wang Shao to the west to fight, he gradually pushed the Tibetan and Qiang ethnic minorities to the more remote western mountainous areas along the ancient Tea-Horse Road, with the main boundaries being the southwest of the Western Qinling Mountains and the west of Niaoshu Mountain. Times have changed, and historical origins have remained, but the place names that remain, such as the village names of Ganzha, Hadiwo, Cuona, Nading, Lumatan, and Zongdan along the west of Banyinpo on National Highway 316, are still in use today. There are also the Nuo dance sacrificial activities of Master Gongzi in Huichuan and Xiaonanchuan, and the Laza Festival in Majiaji area to celebrate the harvest, which are all simple folk customs handed down by the Western Qiang ethnic group. The evolution process of Qiangfan drum dance is in line with the social and historical development over thousands of years, and is an important "living" carrier for the compatibility and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the ancient Qiang people and the Tibetan people. Information source: Weiyuan County People's Government Information source: Weiyuan County People's Government