37-Year-Old Acrobat Takes on 24-bench Dragon Challenge

On June 8, 37-year-old acrobat Zong Zhihuai balanced a spectacular "bench dragon" on his head steadily at Yueminglou Square in the Ming-Qing Ancient Alley in Yiyang City. This dragon, a towering structure made of red-lacquered benches stacked layer by layer, reaches nearly five meters in length. Using his neck, back, and waist, Zong continuously adjusted his posture to maintain balance, repeatedly raising his hands to fine-tune the center of gravity of the bench dragon's body.

"With no performance today, I'm making use of my free time to practice for the 24-bench dragon performance at the end of the year," Zong said during a break, sharing his story of honing his acrobatic skills and pushing through bottlenecks.

Zong Zhihuai practices his bench dragon acrobatics. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

With 50kg of benches on his head, he strives to show the traditional acrobatic "Dragon Raising Its Head"

Beginning from May 27, Zong has been invited to perform bench dragon acrobatics at the Ming-Qing Ancient Alley Scenic Area in Yiyang. The bench dragon acrobatics is a unique acrobatic performance innovatively improved by his elder brother Zong Huaijie in 2022, and has been copyrighted.

“Both my elder brothers started training in their childhood and have a solid foundation in basic skills. I started practicing acrobatics formally as an adult,” Zong said frankly. He noted that he got a late start and has devoted himself to bench dragon performances over the past three years, with all his skills honed step by step through painstaking effort.

For him, the biggest challenge with the bench dragon is not its weight, but the effects of wind. "Wind is the hardest factor to control during performances. Ordinary bench balancing is barely affected by wind, but our improved bench dragon is different," Zong explained. The entire bench dragon setup is adorned with a dragon head, ornaments, and couplets, which increase its surface area exposed to the wind. Even a slight breeze may make the dragon sway. Without using hands, balance must be maintained solely relying on body control to find a stable center of gravity.

The entire prop set weighs 50 kilograms, with the dragon body measuring nearly five meters in length. Over the past three years, he has performed three shows each day, taking the stage nearly a thousand times accumulatively. His calm and steady presence on stage is the result of years of grueling practice. When he first learned to balance benches, his scalp repeatedly turned red, swelled, and peeled. The day-after-day load-bearing training has left thick calluses on his head, and his shoulders are often bruised by the bench legs.

Zong Zhihuai performs bench dragon acrobatics at Yueminglou Square in Yiyang City. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Intensifying Training to Prepare for the 24-Bench Dragon Performance at Year End

While steadily performing the 18-bench dragon acrobatics, Zong has set a new goal for this year—to stage a complete 24-bench dragon performance by the end of the year. This performance format continues the creative vision of his elder brother Zong Huaijie, in which the 24 benches correspond to the 24 Chinese solar terms, symbolizing the traditional folk custom of the seasonal cycle. “With more benches, the dragon will be more spectacular and striking, creating an even more stunning stage effect,” Zong said sincerely when talking about his new goal.

The upgraded 24-bench dragon prop set weighs up to 60 kilograms, significantly heavier and harder to balance than the 18-bench one. Currently, the basic framework of his performance has been largely established, and he is mainly focusing on refining the dragon's wind resistance and stability for outdoor shows, preparing for the brand-new year-end performance.

"In the acrobatics industry, there is a Guinness World Record for stacking 36 benches," Zong noted. Such competitive displays of purely stacking benches are completely differentiated from the bench dragon performance, which incorporates folk-custom styling and a complete stage narrative, he added. Rather than chasing records, he cares more about passing on this traditional acrobatic skill. Nowadays, he intends to take on apprentices and impart all his skills for free, but few young people are willing to devote themselves to learning this craft.

Chinese source: hunantoday