Happy Guozhuang dancing in Bayi County, photo taken by Jan from China Tibet Online.
Before we came to Bayi County of Nyingchi Prefecture, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), we had heard that the local Guozhuang dancing was a very interesting activity. Thus we drove to the Fujian Park located in the downtown area of Bayi County after the sunset to watch the dancing performance that we had been expecting since setting out from Lhasa.
The Tibetan music echoing in the street led us to the park. As we followed the flock of local people into the venue, the dancing group gave us a big surprise by showing up right in front of us.
Hundreds of people including small kids, teenagers and the elderly were turning around, waving their hands and stepping their feet together.
"We come here almost every day, and it is a relaxing activity after a day's work. Everyone can relax here and have fun,' said Drolma, a local resident in Bayi County. "And you can also make new friends here."
With different rhythms of music, people could switch to any dancing steps as they like, singing and dancing joyfully. I was quite impressed and couldn't help joining them. They were so happy to have a new partner that they taught me how to do Guozhuang dancing, a traditional Tibetan entertainment in their daily life.
