Photo shows a scene of the fifth Dalang (trough-beating) dance competition in Tiandeng county, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the convergence media center of Tiandeng county)

The Frost's Descent Festival, a festival to celebrate autumn harvest, kicked off in Tiandeng county, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Oct. 24.

The fifth Dalang (trough-beating) dance competition was held during the festival. Dalang dance is a folk dance featuring performers using wooden pestles to beat wooden troughs rhythmically while dancing to the music. The trough is a type of primitive agricultural instrument used by the ancestors of the Zhuang people for threshing rice, pounding rice, and making glutinous rice cakes.

Dating back nearly 1,400 years, Dalang dance was listed as an intangible cultural heritage item in Guangxi in 2010. During important festivals such as the Spring Festival and the Frost's Descent Festival, people perform the dance to pray for a good harvest, good weather, and a better life.

Over 1,000 people of the Zhuang ethnic group clad in traditional costumes from across the county, including elementary school students, formed 17 teams to present their distinctive dancing steps.

"Through today's event, I personally experienced how Dalang dance has been passed down and promoted across all age groups. This inspires me to continue striving to spread this intangible cultural heritage item," said Lu Donghua, an inheritor of Dalang dance.