A Huangsha Lion Dance is staged at Xingshan Gate during the 2014 Spring Festival. [Photo/sjk.tzwhg.net]

Created in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), huangsha lion dance enjoyed great popularity in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the early Republic of China (1912-1949). The dance is mainly performed in Huangshayang, Baishuiyang town, Linhai. The most important feature of huangsha lion dance is that it ingeniously combines folk martial arts with the traditional lion dances, making it possible for performers to roll and frolic on the ground and to perform on a raised platform. Pieces of cloth are used to make skins for lion-shaped props, ramie fibers to make fur and bamboo, and wood to make the head. The fur of the props is checkered with red, green and blue and permeated with rural elements. In May 2006, huangsha lion dance was included in China's first representative list intangible cultural heritage.