Yang Liu, a 24-year-old inheritor of single bamboo drifting, has given over 3,000 performances of the traditional sport across the country in the past 10 years. She aspires to familiarize people with it not just in the country but the entire world.

Born and bred in Zunyi, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Yang started learning drifting on a bamboo pole on water at the age of 7 with her grandmother. In the beginning, she treated it just as a way to keep fit. But later on, she developed a deep interest when she managed to pull off some basic dance moves while drifting on water.

With each bold attempt, her confidence grew. She later incorporated traditional Chinese costumes, Hanfu, into her performances. A girl dancing on water while wearing Hanfu – it was a sight to behold. It earned the performance names like "aquatic ballet" and "aquatic kung fu."

But Yang didn't just stop there. Having a soft corner in her heart for persons with disabilities, she embedded sign language into her choreography, thereby not only promoting Chinese culture across communities, but also becoming a channel to tell people that "as long as you are willing to make some breakthroughs and attempts, you can also find your value."

Since 2020, Yang has been actively popularizing the technique on social media platforms, where she has earned millions of followers and likes from home and abroad. She told CGTN that there have been voices of doubt against what she does but she keeps a positive attitude.

"I think it all makes me happy because it means I have succeeded in introducing single bamboo drifting to the world," she said.

Reporters: Sun Xiao, Li Hui

Video editor: Yang Sili

Voiceover: Yang Di

Cover image designer: Gao Hongmei

Chief editor: Lin Dongwei

Project producers: Zhang Wan, Liu Yuqi, Wang Xuejing

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei