Show of Nanning

Nanning boasts a long hisory and a full heritage of folk dances and dramas, the most popular are the lion dance, spring bull dance. Yong Opera and Cantonese Opera.

Lion Dance
Lion dance is usually performed during the Spring Festival and other important holidays. The performers, usually two boys holding a lion shaped prop, imitate movements such as shaking the head, waging the tail, jumping and tumbling.

Spring bull Dance
The dance is usually performed in Spring Festival and by farmers during the 3rd day of the 3rd month farmer's Festival. The dance is performed by four people, with two pretending to be bulls. The dancers imitate the daily life of the bull, such as grazing, sleeping, and pulling a plow. The bulls are depicted as strong and friendly.

Shigong Opera
The Shigong Opera performed in Nanning can be divided into two styles-the Pinghua and the zhuanghua. The Pinghua style, which originated in Qing Dynasty, incorporates martial arts with performers wearing wooden masks and holding knifes and swords. The roles can be divided into Sheng (young man), Dan (young woman), Jing, Chou (clown) with Chou as the main characters. The Zhuanghua style is very gently performed and features singing and dancing with little dialogues and no fixed forms.

Yong Opera
Yong Opera, which originated in Qing Dynasty, is a typical local opera in Nanning. It has delicately designed stage movements and dialogues, emphasizing expression of a person's inner world. It is very popular among local people.