For Chinese people, dragons are believed to bring good luck. And dragon dancing is a highlight of Chinese New Year celebrations. As the Year of the Dragon is only days away, people around China are gearing up, trying to make their dragon dances something out of the ordinary.

For Chinese people, dragons are believed to bring good luck. And dragon dancing is a highlight of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Tan Xiaoming from Changxing county in Zhejiang province has been performing dragon dances for more than 30 years. As a child, he learned how to make the dragon from his father. This year, Tan is planning to make a special dragon for the New Year celebration.

Tan says that there are many kinds of dragons in China, but his one is unique. The body of the dragon consists of a series of lotus blossoms. They can be separated or assembled in less than ten seconds.

Tan Xiaoming said, "My dragon consists of flowers, so it’s not so ferocious but elegant. This lotus-dragon is more beautiful."

In order to make the dragon dance more vivid, Tan also changed the pearl into a rolling one.

Tan Xiaoming said, "This pearl can be rolled, so I think it will be more impressive for the audiences."

Every year during the Spring Festival, Tan joins the dragon dance team and gives performances in the county. He hopes that this newly-made lotus-dragon will deliver his best wishes to the village folk.

While you may be familiar with Tan’s traditional style of dragon dance, you probably have not seen an underwater performance. At Ocean Park in the city of Hangzhou, a five meter long dragon is swimming at the bottom of the sea, and attracting a lot of tourists.

Held by four divers and surrounded by fish, the dragon is like the "king of the sea," which is a well-know character in Chinese mythology. The park has also prepared more activities to celebrate the New Year, starting from January 23rd and lasting until February 6th.

Source: CNTV

Editor: Liu Fang