Chinese Lion Dance

The lion dance is a Chinese traditional culture which popular in some Asian countries but people in western countries may not know about this. During every big activities or special festivals, there will have a lion dance, that people wearing a lion costume, accompanied by the music of beating drums, clashing cymbals, and resounding gongs, lion dances imitate a lion's various movements or demonstrate martial arts agility, depending on the style.

The Origin of lion dance
In Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), there didn't have a lot lions in China, so a diplomat from western country brought a lion to China, and then people started loving this rare animal and performing with lion costume, to pray for good luck. After that the lion dance became famous in China even some countries around China, so they also have the lion dance today but in different styles.

The lion Costume
The lion in lion dance actually are two persons inside, one acting the head part and front two legs, another one acting back, butt and two other legs. So these two persons need to spend a lot time on practicing, so that they can perform good in front of people during big occasions.

Chinese Southern Lion

The Chinese Southern Lion dance originated from Guangdong. It is a more popular lion dance because it's movement is much more elegant, acrobatic and entertaining. It is usually performed as a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits and to summon luck and fortune. The southern lion exhibits a wide variety of color and has a distinctive head with large eyes, a mirror on the forehead, and a single horn at center of the head. The Southern Lion Dance is always performed by two performers and often in pairs of two lions. Due to the higher physical demands of the Southern Lion Dance, it is required that the performers have some martial arts background.

Chinese Northern Lion
 

Northern Lion Dance in a variety show
The Chinese Northern Lion Dance is often performed as a pair of male and female lions in the north of China. Northern lions may have a gold-painted wooden head, and shaggy orange and yellow hair with a red bow on its head to indicate a male lion, or a green bow to represent a female.
Northern lions movements are lifelike during a performance. Acrobatics are very common, with stunts like lifts, or balancing on a tiered platform or on a giant ball. The dance of the Northern Lion is generally more playful than the Southern Lion.

The lion dance as an important culture, it exists in world for a long time, so we should spread it out to those people who don't know about it, and never forget it.