Four schools from Beijing were in Hull to put on a show.

The schools, all from the Fengtai District in Beijing, have close ties to the city. Groups of students from Beijing and Hull regularly visit each other as part of a cultural and educational exchange programme.

Today’s special performance at Hull City Hall included various forms of traditional Chinese music, dance and acrobatics (杂技).

Lewis Anderson, 26, started learning Chinese at the age of 13 and acts as a translator and organiser when the Chinese students visit the UK. He also currently studies at a university in China.

He said, “Cultural exchanges are really important because children start to appreciate everything in life. They start to learn that there isn’t only their view on things and they start to look at other cultures and appreciate their history and beauty. For example, when Hull students visit China, they might visit the Great Wall and enjoy traditional dancing and opera, and then they come home and think ‘What do we have that is the equivalent (相等的东西) of that?’ and they look at all the different things that we have and it starts to open their minds.”

The Chinese students are on a 12-day visit to the UK, visiting eight different cities, including four days in Hull. As part of their visit to Hull, they were invited to visit various museums, galleries and tourist sites in the city.

Lewis said, “The children love exploring Hull because it’s rich in history and everywhere you look it’s old, beautiful and attractive.”

At Hull City Hall the Chinese students performed a traditional Peking Opera, which combines music, vocal performance, dance and acrobatics. The performance is famous for featuring fantastic costumes and dazzling make-up.

A young mother went into a small bedroom. Her baby was sleeping there. There was a cat near the baby. The mother took the cat away immediately,because the cat often lay on the baby. Then the baby couldn't breathe and it died by magic.In many countries, people are afraid of black cats because they bring bad luck. Napoleon didn't like black cats. He saw a black cat before the battle of Waterloo. He lost the battle and the British won.Therefore,on the Continent,the black cat is unlucky;in Britain it is lucky.In general,animals are lucky and birds are unlucky.In the British army,some have a goat for luck,and some have an Irish wolfhound(猎狼犬).When President of America Eisenhower died,there was a horse in the funeral(葬礼)procession.This was for luck.Several years ago in Britain,Prince Charles went fox-hunting.When they caught the first fox,they killed it. Then they put some of the blood on Prince Charles.They did the same thing two years later,when Princess Anne went fox­hunting for the first time. A lot of people don't like fox­hunting, and they were very angry when this happened. It is called“being blooded”;and fox-hunters think that is very necessary. It brings good luck to the new fox­hunter,when the blood of the first fox is put on him or her. In the country,it is very lucky when you see the first lamb in spring while birds are usually unlucky,but eagles are different. They are lucky,and the Romans have the eagle as their symbol. Also gulls are lucky. Sailors are very happy when gulls follow their ships.

You might think of it as a scene from martial arts movies when you see people performing graceful moves down the river, all standing on a bamboo strip, but actually it is a form of intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产): bamboo drifting.

Over 2,000 years ago, the high-quality wood, nanmu, in Guizhou was in great demand by the royal court more than 2,000 kilometers to the north. With no better transportation, people had to stand on one log to drift down the river. Later, local people began to compete along the way and the game of wood drifting was born. In the Qing Dynasty, wood drifting became bamboo drifting because of bamboo’s lower price. Due to the great strength and balance it takes for one to master this act, bamboo drifting was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2021.

Yang Liu, a 25-year-old inheritor of bamboo drifting, learned it at seven. “Usually, the bamboo under your feet is about 9 meters long, and the bamboo in your hands is about 5 meters. If the length or diameter of the bamboo is not long enough, it will not be buoyant (有浮力的) enough to float. Keeping our feet firmly positioned on the narrow bamboo pole is the key, so we should fight against the current by constantly changing the angle. I lost my balance and fell in the water many times while practicing. Once I fell, I gave it another try until I knew how to handle the most difficult part,” she said.

The love for the ancient skill keeps Yang going. In the past 18 years, she has drifted all year round, in cold winter and hot summer. As hanfu culture has been on the rise, Yang started wearing hanfu while performing, creating a more beautiful scene. In 2020, Yang began to post her videos on social media. “I’m extremely proud to get responses from viewers that bamboo drifting makes the line between what is possible and impossible unclear. It’s my mission to keep it alive and known to more people,” Yang Liu says.