A leisurely life: I have a scenic area

Today, there are outstanding young people in all walks of life.

Zhou Lin was one of them.

He practiced lion dancing skills diligently in the opera troupe from a young age, enduring countless hardships and falling off the plum blossom poles countless times before finally mastering his skills.

Now 22 years old, he is invited to go abroad every year during the Spring Festival.

Performance.

It's a case of hardship finally giving way to happiness, and finally overcoming adversity.

Lion dancing is not an easy profession.

If it's just a simple twist, that's easy, but moving flexibly on the plum blossom stakes is difficult.

"One minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage"—that's how it's achieved.

In the past few days, Zhou Lin heard about Qingfeng Mountain's invitation.

His partner, Li Ze, was quite interested in this.

"A hundred lions have won the championship! The big boss is indeed a big boss. This is really impressive. This time, he said he would bring together the top lion dance teams in the country to perform together. This has never happened before."

Li Ze was quite excited.

"It's quite interesting, but organizing it well isn't easy. There's no need to be so excited."

Zhou Lin remained calm.

“What a great opportunity! Apart from our opera troupe, I haven’t had much contact with other lion dancers.”

"Don't you want to go and see it?"

"And this show is sure to be a hit, and we'll all gain a lot of recognition!"

“How wonderful!”

Li Ze continued.

"Let's sign up together, fill in all the activities we've participated in before, and practice their assessment moves."

Li Ze asked Zhou Lin.

"I saw the movement; it's not difficult."

"Okay, let's tell Master, we'll both sign up!"

Zhou Lin nodded in agreement.

"Great!"

The two went together to find the opera troupe's master, who was also surprised after learning the ins and outs of the event.

"It's rare to see someone organizing such an event! Lion dancing has declined in popularity and can only play a supporting role in some performances nowadays."

"Now that you have such a great opportunity, it would be wonderful for you to participate."

"The Hundred Lions Competition: If I weren't so old, I would love to participate."

"It's better now!"

Their master quite agreed with this.

Then, Zhou Lin and Li Ze signed up.

Soon, they passed the screening, set a date, and were invited to Qingfeng Mountain to participate in the assessment.

The only problem is that they need to bring their own lion dance equipment.

Qingfeng Mountain will reimburse all travel expenses.

Qi Yue is really not short of money now.

Not to mention the income from the fishing grounds and diving bases, the commercial buildings in the scenic area alone generate an astonishing amount of revenue every day.

Flowers should be spent.

Every year when the park closes, he spends ten to twenty million yuan on maintenance.

We must always ensure that the scenic area retains its novelty.

Li Ze and Zhou Lin arrived at Qingfeng Mountain, but the scenic area happened to be closed that day.

In the empty square, all the people who came were lion dance performers.

They looked each other over.

Some were young men in their early twenties, while others were middle-aged people in their thirties.

Everyone was exceptionally strong, clearly the result of rigorous training.

Since they don't know each other yet, they just smile and nod to each other.

As they ate and lived together, they gradually became familiar with each other.

Qi Yue was also present.

Many people were looking at him.

Li Ze nudged Zhou Lin, gestured towards Qi Yue, and said:

“Look, this is Qi Yue, the owner of the scenic area.”

"So young, and so handsome."

“I heard he practices Taoism. The videos are all exaggerated, and some people even say he is immortal.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lin was speechless for a moment. "It's all nonsense on the internet, and you actually believe it?"

"But Boss Qi is indeed quite capable; you can't deny that."

The two chatted.

Then you can see groups of lion dancers coming to the plum blossom poles to perform.

In addition to the routine assessments, craftspeople often add some other tasks.

For example, it might lift its front hooves and blink its eyes, or it might flick its tail to change direction.

We're all experts; you can tell at a glance that the other person is a professional.

At this moment, the lion dancers from Qingyuan Troupe were right next to Qi Yue, and their captain, Peng Hai, was also there.

Qi Yue looked at Peng Hai and asked:

"So, how about it? Is our lion dance team ready to perform?"

Upon hearing this, Peng Hai was slightly embarrassed and said:

"One group can do the plum blossom poles, but the other two groups can't." "Boss, as you know, we mainly do fire pot dances and iron flower dances. Lion dances are all about creating a lively atmosphere on the ground, so our plum blossom pole skills are a bit lacking."

Hearing this, Qi Yue understood and didn't say anything more.

Qi Yue then looked at Wang Bujue.

Wang Bujue was a special employee he recruited. He was an intangible cultural heritage craftsman who was skilled in face-changing and Yue opera.

Now that he has joined the Qingyuan Society, he has become proficient in performing iron flower and fire pot performances, and he even participates in performances every weekend.

Seeing such a grand scene of a hundred lions competing for the championship, Wang Bujue was filled with longing.

I only regret that I don't have the ability to learn lion dancing and can't participate.

Of course, he wasn't really suited for the two-person collaboration type either. Wang Bujue wasn't good with words, but he was a completely different person every time he performed.

So it's best to perform yourself.

Qi Yue watched with great interest.

Groups of lion dancers performed on plum blossom poles.

With a good foundation, everyone will be able to perform even better in the upcoming "Hundred Lions Contest".

Meanwhile, inside the venue.

Zhou Lin noticed that there was a small group of people nearby who were just watching the lion dance on the plum blossom poles without making any moves.

Moreover, their lion dance costumes are different from others.

Other lion dancers all have thick eyebrows and big eyes, a tiger-like face, and are lively and cute.

Their lion dance was more ferocious, and seemed more realistic.

"It's a Northern Lion! I've never seen one like it before!"

Li Ze also saw that group of people and was repeatedly surprised.

"I didn't expect to invite the Northern Lion team. Northern Lions are rarely seen nowadays."

Zhou Lin nodded.

"What a wonderful event! Both Southern and Northern lion dances have come together!"

"They could make a movie about Wong Fei-hung!"

Li Ze said with a smile.

When they were young, they loved watching Jet Li's portrayal of Wong Fei-hung, which featured many lion dance elements.

Back then, there were quite a few Hong Kong movies featuring lion dances and centipede dances.

However, this kind of atmosphere is rarely seen nowadays.

It's truly remarkable to be able to experience this in person today.

One lion dance group after another passed the test. Perhaps because there were so many competitors, no one could show any fear, so each one put in more effort than the last.

The performances were all excellent.

Li Ze and Zhou Lin arrived quickly.

"It's coming!"

"go!"

The two already had a perfect working relationship.

Li Ze was behind, Zhou Lin was in front, they put on their lion dance costumes, and the background music started.

Then, they moved nimbly and gracefully towards the plum blossom stakes.

Every step is vivid and lifelike.

Everyone could tell from their movements that this group of young people were professionals.

On Qi Yue's side, drones and mobile phones were set up, but of course, it wasn't a live broadcast; it was just for shooting video footage.

Now that the scenic area has its own media team, Qi Yue's idea is to shoot a documentary and release it on platforms such as Bilibili and Douyin.

The documentary is simply called "Qingfeng Mountain Intangible Cultural Heritage Season".

This is the first phase, and it is called:

Hundred Lions Win the Championship
Li Ze and Zhou Lin's performance was truly superb.

His series of actions drew cheers from the crowd.

They naturally passed the screening successfully.

After the Southern Lion dance performance on the plum blossom stakes, it was the Northern Lion dance's turn.

Northern lions are more agile, and can even roll and jump.

First, there was a dance, and then the three lions, with their twelve legs, suddenly leaped onto a ball.

Everyone carefully maintained their balance and then pushed the ball forward.

Seeing this, the artisans held their breath.

I was really worried for them.

The performance of the Northern Lion Dance is very entertaining.

And this is just the beginning.

Next, the Northern Lion Dance will feature a performance on a high platform.

Although they can't move freely on the plum blossom stakes, climbing up a 10-meter-high overpass and then dancing at the very top of it is still a breathtaking sight.

"really not bad!"

"They must have practiced for a long time!"

The people below were filled with emotion.

This year's Lion Dance Championship focused on performance and communication, and everyone had a great attitude.

Qi Yue also thought it was a good idea.

"The atmosphere feels pretty good."

"A sudden idea, seemingly leading to something remarkable."

Qi Yue gazed at the lion dance troupe and murmured with emotion. (End of Chapter)