Poor man’s fireworks: molten iron show puts spark into Spring Festival

World
Europe

‍By CGTN's Sun Ke, Tianran He

Yuxian belongs to Zhangjiakou, a part of China that is rich in coal and iron deposits and home to a strong metalworking industry. Back in the day, it was also a strategic defensive location, where several garrison towns guarded Beijing from northern invaders. With time, a community of blacksmiths grew up in Yuxian, who helped equip the army.

Blacksmiths are melting iron. /Sun Ke, Tianran He

And when people noticed the mesmerising sparks created by the blacksmiths’ molten iron falling to the ground, they concluded they were not unlike the fireworks that, back then, only the wealthy could afford. From then on, every Spring Festival, the less well-off would donate pieces of scrap metal to be melted down by blacksmiths and turned into fiery flowers.

Molten iron. /Sun Ke, Tianran He

With time, a new tradition was born – Dashuhua, a fantastic firework display performed by throwing ladlefuls of 1600°C molten iron in a wide arc against the cold walls of the city gate, creating millions of sparks. Though performances are found across Yuxian, the most famous takes place in the town of Nuanquan.

Dashuhua performance. /Sun Ke, Tianran He

163km