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Shifu series | Fish Lantern Dance

Writer: Lin Jianping  |  Editor: Zhang Chanwen  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2023-12-29




As a national-level intangible cultural heritage, Shatoujiao’s fish lantern dance originated in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). With a history of more than 300 years, this unique folk dance involves mostly male dancers, who hold fish-shaped lanterns while dancing and parading. Now still popular in areas such as Shatoujiao in Shenzhen’s Yantian District, and some villages in Hong Kong’s New Territories, it has become an essential way to observe traditional Chinese festivals, worship gods and ancestors, and celebrate harvests.