Each year on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, tens of thousands of people gather at Renshou Mountain in Longxi County, Gansu Province, for the annual mountain pilgrimage gathering. The highlight is the Yunyangban Dance, a traditional sacrificial dance with a history of more than 1,600 years.

Added to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2021, the Yunyangban Dance has become a cultural calling card of Longxi.

Originating from the Yunyangban, a magic instrument held by Cao Guojiu—one of the Eight Immortals in Taoist legends—the dance features performers holding a set of four Yunyangban with copper coins fixed inside. Dancers are dressed in traditional costumes, with double topknots on their heads and hemp shoes adorned with red pompoms. Accompanied by gongs and drums, they execute martial arts-style movements such as Boy Worshipping Guanyin, Xiangzi Playing the Flute, and Flying Kick and Supine Fish Pose. Comprising three sections: Praying for Rain, Harvest, and Celebration, the dance expresses the people’s sincere prayers for favorable weather for crops, as well as the joy and exuberance brought by a bumper harvest.

In recent years, Longxi County has leveraged intangible cultural heritage as a key resource to advance the deep integration of culture and tourism. The annual Renshou Mountain Pilgrimage Gathering attracts tens of thousands of tourists and photography enthusiasts each year to watch, record, and consume, boosting the development of local catering, accommodation, cultural and creative industries, and other related sectors.