2025, year of the snake, is the first “Intangible Cultural Heritage Chinese New Year”. In such a Spring Festival full of cultural heritage, a grand intangible cultural heritage celebration is playing lively in Gegu Town, Jinnan District. On February 13, the 16th of the first lunar month, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world gathered on the Anzheng Road with fluttering flags and deafening gongs and drums to feel the strong flavor of the New Year and the charm of intangible cultural heritage.
In this year, Chariot Pageant in Gegu Town has inherited the tradition and incorporated many new elements to bring audiences an unprecedented experience. At twelve o’clock, the registration ceremony starts officially, the Menfan flag has resumed to be ready after a long silence, which indicated that the New Year will be full of harvest, peace and security.
Chaoyang Yingge Dance from Guangdong Province made its debut, igniting the atmosphere of the scene instantly. The dancers, dressed in bright costumes and holding wooden sticks, moved in unison with the pounding beat of gongs and drums. They are vigorous and powerful, sometimes knock on each other, sometimes jump and rotate. The bold Chaoyang Yingge Dance and the magnificent Chariot Pageant have formed a distinct cultural collision between the North and South, so that the audience cheered constantly.
“Look, the stilts are coming!” With a rousing shout from the crowd, 23 groups of performers took to the stage. The Xingyun Dragon Lantern took the lead. The long dragon in their hands moved up and down, or twisted and turned, or went straight up, which was dizzying. The stilt performers performed their stunts with smart and steady steps, and the wonderful shows such as catching butterfly drastically or modestly and amusing flower-drum or gong and drum were staged in turn, which attracted the audience’s praise. The Anle Land Boat with artistic appeal was accompanied by melodious songs, which interpreted the love legend of the White Snake for the audience. Shaolin Lions sometimes were mighty or naive and every gesture was full of good wishes for the New Year’s life.
Then, every chariot and pavilion were uplifted orderly in the noisy sound of drums and the golden chariots and pavilions were given out brilliant light in the sun shine. Surrounded by people, the newly built Yongming Pavilion with carved beams and painted rafters led the way for the phoenix chariot from the west tea shed. The steps of the chariot bearers were steady and strong and they were sometimes slow or fast, following the orders. Looking from a distance, they moved to windward naturally and smoothly, and their exquisite skills drew applause from the audience on both sides.
On the site, some audiences “seized” the perfect position early, some stood on tiptoe to watch carefully, and some took out their mobile phones to record this lively scene. “The performance is really more and more wonderful and I watch the performance in the Chariot Pageant of this year to my heart’s content!” Ms. Zhang, a citizen, said excitedly, “This year, the application for the Spring Festival heritage was successful, so I took my children to watch our national intangible cultural heritage in Gegu Town and felt particularly meaningful!”
The successful of the Chariot Pageant in Gegu Town is not only a deep look back on the long history and culture, but also a perfect integration of tradition and innovation. In the future, the potential of intangible cultural heritage in Gegu Town will be excavated deeply based on the Chariot Pageant, the deep integration of agriculture, culture and tourism will be further promoted and new scenes of agricultural tourism consumption will be constantly expanded, which will fully display the unique charm of Gegu Town, a millennial ancient town.
(Author:WangRui;Translator:ZhaoHailing;Picture:CaiChangda, Wang Rui）
