I didn't think much of the hotel we were staying at, at the foot of Mount Qiyun, one of four sacred Taoist mountains in China; until nightfall and we ventured towards the entrance, where a stage was built right in front of a stone plaque with the word "道".
A huge crowd had congregated at the stage area and since our group was mainly of an older generation, we decided to stand further away, where there were platforms for the old folks to rest and wait patiently for the "show" to start.
And boy was I glad to have waited. It was a performance of 打铁花; literal translation is hitting iron flowers. I first knew about this intangible cultural heritage art from a Chinese drama; Story of Yanxi Palace which was aired in 2018!
Without all the lights dimmed, except for that glaring pavilion as a backdrop, the massive sparks were spectacular! Dating back more than a millennium ago, this involves heating "iron to temperatures exceeding 1,300°C to 1,600°C in a puddling furnace".
"Wearing protective gear, the performers would use special iron spoons to scoop up the liquid metal and forcefully hurl it against a cold brick wall or high into the night sky, creating massive tree-crown-shaped sparks upon impact or oxidation" - resulting in this beautiful sight that attracted a lot of wows from the audience.
After which, there appeared to be long tongues of fire. As we were quite far, I didn't manage to see what it was all about but to be honest, to be situated further actually allows us to take in the full sight, not to mention safer.
Lucky girl had a better view than me!
Hope this would be a good memory for her.
Lasting about ten minutes, I thought this would be all, and it's time for us to retire back to our hotel and have an early night. But hey, this is China and their performances are unlike others.
The stunning fireworks surprised us and they were multi-colored; lighting up the dark skies and literally lifted the moods of everyone in the audience; the magical effect of fireworks and they lasted for more than five minutes!
Enough words; please refer to the video!
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