Intangible cultural heritage Iron Flower blooms in Dunhuang

From the twelfth to the fourteenth day of the first lunar month in the year 2024, the ancient county of Dunhuang will light up with festive lanterns along its style street, as the iron trees bloom with silver flowers, and a myriad of stars ignite. The millennia-old intangible cultural heritage performance of 'Iron Flower' will be staged here. Molten iron, heated to high temperatures, is splashed by the performers with spoons, then struck into the air with boards, where it boils, burns, and scatters, painting various patterns in the sky. There are also specially made rotating tools that fling the molten iron into the air, forming spinning wheels of fire, resembling blossoming iron flowers, radiating with flowing light and colors, spectacularly illuminating the night sky, bringing smiles to faces, and brightening the festive atmosphere.