On our first night stay in Lijiang, the motel owner kept persuading us (almost forcing) to dance at their local dance square after our dinner. We were so tired but still went ahead – am glad that we did that coz we practically didn’t have the chance to do that in the following days!
According to them, before TV invaded the litter quiet township, the people have nothing to do at night. It is their traditional culture to gather in the square after dinner, light the fire to keep warm, and dance circling the fire.
Of course, as tourism has boomed in this place, and with the invasion of TV and other entertainments, less and less locals dance there, and it is now full with tourists. Nevertheless, the one that we went in Shuhe old town (束河古镇) is still far more authentic than the Lijiang old town.
We watched for a while, and then was pulled into the circle to join them. I tell you… the locals really danced with their full body, seeing their shoulders and body movement – that is called DANCING. And us? We were like zombie or doing the morning exercise – practically just lifting our hands and kicking our legs here and there, as per the instruction. I found that we were very funny when I reviewed the videos. Hahahaha!
Here is a video before we joined the circle:
Here is a video showing 3 locals (2 white shirt and 1 black) dancing with us. Look at their movements!
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