A roar of tradition: Beijing master passes on lion dance legacy

On an autumn morning in Beijing, the sunlight falls across the training ground as Yang Jingwei watches four children practice the movements of a traditional Chinese lion dance.

He corrects their posture, reminds them to control their movements and urges them to look beyond the steps they have learned. For the 67-year-old master, performing the lion dance is not simply a matter of moving a large, decorated head and a swaying body of fabric. It requires the performer to imagine becoming the animal itself.

"You are not just performing a lion. You have to think of yourself as the lion," Yang tells his young apprentices. "Once you put on the head and drape the red cloth over yourself, the two of you become one lion. You have to bring out its nature."

It is a lesson he has spent a lifetime learning himself.