Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Reposts Tongdao Song and Dance Performance

2026-09-17

On September 15, the official account of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson posted a video on the overseas social media platform X with the caption, "Performers in splendid Chinese ethnic costumes and artists from across the globe sang and danced side-by-side. This is what the world should be like." The performers in the video who dazzled audiences overseas came from Tongdao Dong Autonomous County in Hunan.

On the evening of September 12, the 37th Shanghai Tourism Festival parade kicked off at the Bund in Shanghai. A performing team composed of artists from the Tongdao Ethnic Theater Troupe and local villagers appeared in the parade formation, delivering a nearly three-minute main-stage performance and parading for about one kilometer. During waiting breaks, Dong performers wearing dazzling silver ornaments and splendid attire beat a threshing box drum and performed the joyful Duoye Dance.

An art troupe from Huaihua, Hunan makes its debut at the 37th Shanghai Tourism Festival. (Photo/Xiao Huabing, correspondent)

The 56-year-old Yang Yongzhong performs the threshing box drum in the team. The threshing box was originally a farming tool for threshing grain during the autumn harvest, and the Dong people, skilled in song and dance, have adapted it as an accompanying percussion instrument. Yang Yongzhong said, "We Dong people have an old saying, 'Food nourishes the body, song nourishes the soul.' Song and dance performances originally come from labor and life, and are not restricted by location. Whenever the mood strikes, we can sing and dance right where we are."

At first only a few people were singing or dancing, but later more and more people joined this "carnival." The Dong performers warmly invited friends from various countries around them to hold hands and dance together. The Spanish performing team was the first to join, and artists from Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, and other countries and regions also gradually gathered. Despite the language barrier, they held hands in a circle, singing and dancing to their hearts' content to the lively, powerful rhythm.

This heartwarming scene was captured by on-site spectators and widely shared on social media at home and abroad. Netizens left comments such as "This is what the world should be like," "The global village becomes a reality," and "Different skin colors, different cultures, the same smiling faces and the same joy"...

In Yang's view, this "iconic scene" of cross-cultural dance stems from the inherent cultural traits of the Dong people's Duoye Dance. "The Duoye Dance is a collective song and dance of the Dong people. It has no strict performance requirements, blurs the line between performers and audience, and emphasizes everyone joining hands to form a circle. With its simple, upbeat rhythm, it easily draws others into participating," said Yang.

Dong performers of Tongdao Dong Autonomous County take a group photo with artists from various countries. (Photo/Xiao Huabing, correspondent)

Upon seeing the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's official account repost the video, Lin Gengju, deputy director of the Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Television and Sports of Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, said frankly that she was both surprised and moved. "The Duoye Dance is performed in a circle, symbolizing shared aspirations and highlighting the open and inclusive spirit of our ethnic minorities."

According to preliminary statistics, Tongdao song and dance performance attracted coverage from 23 overseas media outlets during this year's Shanghai Tourism Festival.