Today, I will introduce you guys something splendid，something in my hometown and having existed for more than a thousand years—— Bench Dragon Parade！It’s as well in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China
今天我给大家看看我的家乡中十分壮观的场景，同时也被列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录——就是“迎板凳龙”！

The day before Chinese Lantern Festival(the 15th day of the 1st Chinese lunar month), I usually become super excited, because my favorite Bench Dragon Parade is going on!
每个元宵节的前一天，我都会非常兴奋,因为我最喜欢的板凳龙游行要开始了！

Before everything, I’d like to explain here that Dragon is the most auspicious symbol in China, and it’s very different from western dragons in terms of cultural connotation.
在中国，龙是吉祥的象征，和西方龙的文化涵义差别是很大的。

So the next day, the streets can witness as many people as this:
元宵节当天，街上可谓是万人空巷：

You can see the head of the dragon, however, you just can’t see where the tail is.
连接的板凳数可以达到几千节，真是神龙见首不见尾。

Let’s take a closer look.
让我们近距离观察这条龙。

There are 3 parts making up the bench dragon: head, tail and the middle part.
板凳龙龙由三部分组成：龙头，龙身，龙尾。

The middle part is the chain of wooden benches interlocked with each other. Each is like this:
龙身由一节节木板凳制成

However, the decoration on the bench can be various. For example，the bench I made is this one below.（I know I’m lousy at it.）
每个板凳上面的装饰可能千变万化。下图是我制作的板凳龙：（我知道我做的很丑）

（The bench I made）

But most of the time , it’s brilliant with flowers, paper-cuts, and candles, calligraphy and other kinds of art forms.
其他的做的大都比我的好看多了，结合了各种各样的艺术形式和装饰：花束、剪纸、蜡烛、书法等等。

When the bench is parading, sometimes it can be dangerous, both for the bench bearers and the audiences around, with the whole chain swinging left and right. But, This swinging is also considered as a thrilling fun to watch.
迎龙的时候有时会左右摇摆，这对迎龙者和观众是有些危险的，但是这种摇摆也成了人们觉得惊险刺激的来源。

（Me as a bench bearer）这是我迎龙的图片

As a bench bearer, you have to be very strong and get all the protections before hand: gloves, hats, ear plugs, for pulling the bench is very tiring. With audiences setting off firecrackers and shooting fireworks along the way, those protection can literally save your ass.
如果你要去迎龙，那可得看看自己够不够强壮，还得做好保护措施：手套、帽子、耳塞。因为迎龙很辛苦，再加上周围观众会放鞭炮、烟花庆祝，所以保护措施是必要的。

But take it easy audiences.Because our public security officers will always be all out at that day everywhere as ordinators and safeguard for everyone of us.
不过观众们别担心，我们的警察叔叔会全军出动全力以赴的保护我们的！所以安全还是有保障的。

For more info. about Bench Dragon Parade in my hometown, you can visit this link to watch the documentary about it with English caption available.
想要更多了解我家乡的板凳龙，可以点下面链接观看纪录片！
(http://my.tv.sohu.com/us/50333101/83018587.shtml)

More pictures about Bench Dragon parade:
更多关于板凳龙的图片：（来自网络From the Internet）

BTW, Welcome everyone to my hometown（Datian County, Fujian Province in southern China.）, and to China!
欢迎到我的家乡走走！（我的家乡位于福建省大田县）

The End！

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