NANNING — Amid the earsplitting sound of firecrackers and the dazzling glitter of firelight, shirtless men danced a colorful bamboo dragon through the streets, as people threw lit firecrackers.

This was the scene in Binyang county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, where people celebrated the traditional Paolong Festival — literally the "Firecracker Dragon" Festival — on the 11th day of the first lunar month, which fell on a Wednesday this year.

The celebration had been suspended for three years due to COVID-19 and restarted this year, attracting tourists from China and other countries, including South Korea, Indonesia and the United States.

The festival was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008, and the dance has been performed for several thousand years in Binyang.

Unlike other dragon dances, the firecracker dragon dance is one of the most distinctive.

People throw lit firecrackers at the dragon to drive away evil spirits and pray for peace and prosperity for the next year. Before the dance, people gather in the streets to worship their ancestors and enjoy homemade meals.

Liu Zhenjun, a dragon dancer from the Sanlian community team, said it has always been a tradition for dragon dancers to perform topless as a representation of courage and perseverance. "Once the dance starts, we are too excited to feel pain when firecrackers explode against our bodies," Liu said.

According to the local association, around 70 firecracker dragons were made by hand for the festival this year.

"The tradition has been properly passed down. There are around 40 handicraftsmen, including young people, who are able to make the bamboo dragon," said Zou Yute, an inheritor of the craft.

A series of souvenirs based on the tradition have been developed to appeal to increasing numbers of tourists, he said.

"The dragon dance is amazing. It was my first time seeing it, and it was unforgettable," said Tommy Tanu Wijaya, an Indonesian student studying at Beijing Normal University. He traveled to Binyang to celebrate the festival with his wife.

According to the local organizer, the county's hotels and restaurants were fully booked for the festival.

The return of firecracker dragon dancing epitomizes China's tourism boom during this year's Spring Festival, which officially occurred between Jan 21 and Jan 27. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, around 308 million domestic tourism trips were made during the period, an increase of 23.1 percent year-on-year and 88.6 percent of 2019's Spring Festival trips.