His bench dance touched the Dragon King, who rained on the earth.

People on the earth were happy and took up their benches and danced. Since then, bench dancing has been handed down among the Miao people in the Qingshui River area.

There are two forms of Kaili bench dance. One is to dance without singing, like in Lushan town.

The other is to dance and sing, likein Panghai town and Sankeshu town.

The Miao people perform the bench dance to celebrate happy events and festivals, like weddings, birth month celebrations and New Year’s Day.

For Miao people, the bench dance and alcohol coexist. For them, no alcohol, no dance. With alcohol, the dance shows brings more enthusiasm and lets out the bold character of Miao people.

(Wang Jin contributed to this story)