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BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The town of Sanlin, near Shanghai is famous for its dragon dance team. It's won many world championships over the past two decades. But as old team members retire from the group, the once robust team faces a growing challenge to recruit new members.
It has been only one year since Chen Chunhua took charge of the team. Joining the team eight years ago, he has witnessed many ups and downs in that time. But one thing different now is that he has to be the leader. Training is always hard and unexpected injuries are just a step away.
Chen Chunhua, leader of Shanghai Sanlin Dragon & Lion Dance Team said:“It happens quite often that we have injuries during training. But the problem we have now is we don’t have enough back-up members to replace the injured. The dragon dance needs ten people. Everybody has to be here, otherwise we cannot start the training.”
Chen told us that last time they waited for two weeks for a member to recover. Fortunately, this time the team member went back to practice immediately. The intense pace and harsh training may scare away many people, but it can also make those who truly love this sport stay. Jiang Yiming works during the day, but he has persisted in being a member of the team for nearly eight years.
“I have my own job which has nothing to do with the dragon dance. I joined the team eight years ago by chance. At first I thought it would be good for my health. But later when we won the championship and other competitions, the honor it gave to me was something I had never experienced before. Besides, you can have real friendships on the team, which makes me feel good and keeps me here,” said Jiang Yiming, member of Shanghai Sanlin Dragon & Lion Dance Team.
Two months ago, the team sent out a recruiting post on its microblog. The team leader hopes to find more talented people to join them, and share in their glory and setbacks.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
