Lesser-Known Scenic Spot Near Changsha: Daolin Ancient Town

Thousand-Year Iron Flowers · Hunan People

— Daolin Ancient Town

I wonder if everyone has watched the program "Brilliant and Clear" from Hunan TV's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. A calm lake, a circular minimalist stage, and two top dancers, Zhu Fengwei and Zhu Jinhui, gracefully danced alongside the stunning "Da Tie Hua" (molten iron fireworks) on the shore.

The perfect coordination of "Da Tie Hua" with the top dancers elevated this intangible cultural heritage, which has a history of over a thousand years, to new heights.

What is "Da Tie Hua"?

"Da Tie Hua" is a large-scale traditional folk fireworks display. It is a folk cultural performance technique discovered by ancient Chinese craftsmen during the casting of vessels, and it is one of the national intangible cultural heritages.

It began in the Northern Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has a history of over a thousand years. "Da Tie Hua" is mainly practiced in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, with Henan and Shanxi being the most popular. The Kaifeng "Da Tie Hua" is even hailed as the top of the ten folk arts in the Yellow River Basin.

Before the "Da Tie Hua" performance, a two-story octagonal canopy over ten feet high is set up in the middle of a wide square. The first floor is 4 meters high, and the second floor is 1.5 meters high, called the "flower canopy."

The top of the canopy is covered with fresh willow branches, tied with all kinds of fireworks, firecrackers, and lifts. In the center of the canopy's top, a pole over ten feet high is erected, called the "old pole."

Long strings of firecrackers and large fireworks are also tied to the top of the old pole, known as "setting the colors."

One scoop of molten iron shoots into the sky, followed by another, continuous and unending. The molten iron in the scoop rushes towards the canopy, hitting the willow branches on the roof and splattering, igniting the firecrackers and fireworks on the canopy. Iron flowers fly everywhere, meteors cascade like waterfalls, firecrackers roar, and the sound shakes the sky.

A highly skilled performer can hit the old pole with one scoop, igniting the fireworks and long firecrackers at the top, known as "hitting the colors."

What makes "Da Tie Hua" in Daolin Ancient Town special?

"Thousand-Year Iron Soul · Hunan People" features the nationally renowned intangible cultural heritage "Sitai Tie Hua" from Shanxi, and uses historical and cultural stories that occurred on this red land of Hunan as creative themes, telling the contributions of Hunan people to this land across different eras.

"Thousand-Year Iron Soul · Hunan People" at Daolin Ancient Town performs on schedule every evening. Before the performance begins, the master craftsmen of "Da Tie Hua" need to prepare for over an hour.

This project has a total of 90 people, all from Sitai Town in Jincheng, Shanxi Province. One furnace is specially guarded, and the rest are responsible for distributing molten iron, striking performances, etc.

Zhao Qinsheng is a master craftsman of the "Thousand-Year Iron Soul · Hunan People" project at Daolin Ancient Town and an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of "Da Tie Hua."

He said the performance preparation is divided into three parts. Besides the "Da Tie Hua" that the audience sees, there are also processes of melting iron and delivering molten iron. There are over 20 striking points in the project, corresponding to over 20 masters delivering molten iron and over 20 striking masters.

"Thousand-Year Iron Soul · Hunan People" is performed in five segments, lasting about half an hour. The main raw material consumed is pig iron, with about 2 tons needed for each performance.

A scoop of molten iron pours into a wall, ten thousand blazing sparks blooming brilliantly. With each strike of the craftsman, dazzling iron flowers bloom in the air, reflecting on the water surface with flowing brilliance, as dreamy as a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

Besides "Da Tie Hua" at Daolin Ancient Town

"Daolin Ancient Town" is an ancient town with a history of over 1,100 years. It was a major commercial town in ancient times, with abundant resources and a rich historical and cultural heritage.

To allow visitors to better experience the local folk customs, the scenic area has also set up several small situational theaters. Among those already built are "Station Story," "Waiting Hall," "Yamen Trial," "Chen Family Values," "Flower Drum Opera," "Chinese Martial Arts," etc.

"Station Story" and "Waiting Hall" tell stories that happened at Changsha Railway Station in different eras and with different characters, depicting the historical changes of Changsha Railway Station and the tremendous economic and social transformations of China.

"Yamen Trial" is set against the backdrop of stories in ancient Changsha Government Office. It recreates scenes of ancient court trials in a humorous and witty way, with laughter and excitement throughout the performance, including audience participation to enhance the interactivity and experience of the show.

"Chen Family Values" tells the story of a family meeting during a severe drought, where the clan leader of the Chen family led the entire clan to donate for disaster relief, punishing theft, opium smoking, fraud, and other violations of family rules and ancestral teachings.

Besides watching theater performances, this place is also a paradise for photography enthusiasts. At sunset, the orange-yellow buildings shine brilliantly in the afterglow, and the entire town is filled with a retro-romantic atmosphere.

There are also bright red, green trains, colorful tracks, and other scenes, paired with blue sky, white clouds, green grass, and orange light—immediately conjuring up images from a Hayao Miyazaki movie!

Travel Tips:

Keep your scenic area ticket with you throughout the trip! There are multiple checkpoints along the way.

The scenic area has a dining area, but you can also choose to eat outside. Passing through the dining area leads to another entrance of the scenic area, where there are more dining options, and the architecture has a Republic of China style.

There are children's play facilities in the scenic area, such as slides, swings, a sand castle, etc.