China Ends Lunar New Year With Molten Metal Showers

Chinese farmers perform a rare and dangerous ritual to celebrate the Lantern Festival: throwing arcs of molten metal against a cold hard wall in an explosion of sparks.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

World, Arts & Society

Topics

Asia, Arts & Culture

Places

China, Beijing, Shanghai

Transcript

SCRIPT: A spectacular alternative to traditional fireworks to mark the end of China's New Year festivities. A team of farmers takes turns to scoop up molten metal, then hurl it at a brick wall to set off this fiery display, with not much more than a straw hat, a pair of googles and a sheepskin coat for protection. SOUNDBITE 1 Mr Zhong (man), molten metal performer (Mandarin, 8 sec): "The molten metal sometimes burns me on the face here and here." It's all part of an ancient tradition in Nuanquan village, just a few hours' drive west of Beijing SOUNDBITE 2 Yao Zhenguo (man), backstage worker (Mandarin, 17 sec): "This was invented because in the past, poor people couldn't afford fireworks. So they would use molten metal to replace traditional fireworks." People would donate scrap pieces of metal to blacksmiths, who used to carry out the performance. These days the job's done by four farmers. The event was banned during the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao. But now, faced with low profits from the fields, villages across China are turning to ancient crafts and festivals as a way to draw visitors -- and income -- from the cities. SOUNDBITE 3 Liu Donghai (man), festival performer (Mandarin, 14 sec): "You can say this molten metal display is unique to Yu County. It's the only place in the world where they use one thousand six hundred degree molten metal, actually using wooden spoons to create the sparks." The lantern festival marks the 15th and final day of the Lunar New Year festivities, which see hundreds of millions of Chinese return to their ancestral homes for the country's biggest holidays. The New Year finale is also the farmers’ last chance to enjoy their break -- before they step out of the spotlight and back into the fields for another year. SHOTLIST: NUANQUAN VILLAGE, YU COUNTY, HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA, FEB 25, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR of molten metal performance -Metal workers refill bucket with molten metal before performer scoops it up with wooden spoon -Performer hurls molten metal at brick wall to generate sparks -One of the four molten metal performers in protective gear -Performer holding wooden spoons and wearing sheepskin coat for protection SOUNDBITE 1 -WS of molten metal performance -Performer splashing molten metal against wall SOUNDBITE 2 -Scrap pieces of metal used to create fireworks display -Workers empty truck carrying scrap pieces of metal -Farmers putting on protective gear -WS of molten metal performance -Molten metal bucket getting refilled during performance -Behind the scene of the performance -Crowd watching the performance SOUNDBITE 3 -VAR of lantern festival parade to mark end of Chinese New Year period held in Yu County -Parade onlookers -Performer scooping molten metal from bucket and hurling it at a wall -Performers in their protective gear backstage /// ----------------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: China-Lunar-lantern-festival,lead China ends Lunar New Year with molten metal showers by Tom Hancock NUANQUAN, China, Feb 24, 2013 (AFP) - Fireworks lit up the sky across China on Sunday and straw-hatted farmers in one village hurled molten metal into the air, as the country marked the end of Lunar New Year festivities. China's Lantern Festival traditionally signals the close of just over two weeks of rest and feasting during the Lunar New Year, the country's biggest holiday, which sees hundreds of millions return to their ancestral homes. Cities across the country echoed with explosions as millions took to the streets to set off fireworks, and one village hosted a molten metal throwing festival, one of a host of ancient Chinese customs revived in recent decades. With little more than a straw hat and goggles for protection, a team of farmers spooned molten hot metal from buckets before hurling it at a brick wall, where it rained down in fountains of glowing shards. The spectacle brought roars of approval from the audience in Nuanquan village, a few hours drive from Beijing, which has revived the centuries-old festival in a bid to boost tourism, building a dedicated amphitheatre for the purpose. Scrap iron collected from households in the village is melted down in primitive furnaces, which shoot flames and torrents of sparks into the night sky behind the technicolour stage. Donning a straw hat and a wooly jacket, one 49-year-old maize farmer completed his transition to a fire-thrower, telling AFP: "I love doing it... there's no danger at all." The fiery festival is said to have been invented over 300 years ago by poor blacksmiths in the village who could not afford the fireworks traditionally used during the season. "We have an ancient saying, if you don't set off fireworks or throw molten metal... the village won't be peaceful, we still believe that," festival performer Liu Yueqing said, before taking to the stage in a bright yellow uniform. But the festival was banned during the tumultous decade of the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. "If you took part, you could be arrested," a local resident surnamed Zou said. "Anyone who took part was said to be cow monsters and snake demons," he said, referring to a slogan used to condemn people during the period, adding that the revived version of the festival was "bigger and better than ever". Faced with low profits from farming, villages across China have turned to tourism as a source of income, rediscovering their ancient architecture, crafts and festivals as a way of luring visitors from the cities. Some taking in the sites at Nuanquan were worried by the tourism push. "Now the biggest threat to traditional village culture isn't politics -- it's economics," Hou Xue, a Beijing cultural relic enthusiast said. "These flashy government organised events don't have the right flavour, they don't seem authentic," he added. While hot metal sparks fizzed under the full moon, others in China set off fireworks and ate sweet dumplings to mark the festival. "The pork ones sold out early. We can't make enough," said a clerk at a branch of a famous dumpling chain in China's commercial hub of Shanghai, who offered crab meat or sweet sesame paste alternatives. Worshippers thronged Shanghai's Jing'an Buddhist Temple, burning incense and tossing coins into a giant urn to make wishes for the coming year. A "fireworks spree" on Sunday evening led to Beijing's air quality falling to hazardous levels, the state-run China Radio International reported. Parts of the country have been blanketed with thick smog in recent weeks, with the pollution blamed on coal-burning and auto exhaust emissions. Many of China's migrant workers living in rural areas delay their return to their workplaces beyond the official public holiday, which lasts only a week. END