I toured Nuanquan, a town in Hebei which has preserved one of China’s most extraordinary ancient light shows. The name Nuanquan means warm spring town and it’s called that because it has a geothermal spring which never freezes, a bonus really here in the winter when the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees. Because of this, Nuanquan has been inhabited for over 20,000 years and much of what you can see here dates back to the Ming Dynasty. But it is not just these ancient buildings I’ve come to see. I’m here because Nuanquan is a place where some of China’s oldest New Year traditions have also been perfectly preserved.
我游览了位于河北省的暖泉镇，这里保留了中国最独特的古老灯光表演之一。暖泉镇因镇中心有一处四季长流、冬暖夏凉的地热泉而得名。这里的地热泉从不结冰，这在冬季气温降至零下20度时确实是一个优势。因此，暖泉镇已有超过20000年的居住历史，许多现存的建筑可以追溯到明朝。但吸引我来到这里不仅仅是因为这些古建筑，还因为暖泉镇保留了一些中国最古老的春节传统习俗。
One of the most spectacular and the most dangerous of them is called Dashuhua, or “striking iron flowers”
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which basically means creating flowers out of molten iron. This tradition was started 500 years ago by a blacksmith like Mr Xue. His family have been blacksmiths here in Nuanquan for an incredible 14 generations and he is the last in a long line of Dashuhua masters.
其中最壮观、也是最危险的一项传统表演被称为“打树花”，即“打铁花”，意为用熔化的铁水创造出花朵的形状。这一传统始于500年前，由一位像薛师傅这样的铁匠创立。他的家族在暖泉镇已经传承了14代铁匠，他是最后一位打树花大师。
Creating a light show out of molten iron is a dangerous business, but Mr Xue agreed to show me how it was done. The molten iron had been cooking for about 45 minutes and it was looking pretty hot but, before performing, Mr Xue had to get into protective clothing. He gave me my first-ever demonstration of Dashuhua.
打树花表演是一项危险的工作，但薛先生同意向我展示其制作过程。熔铁已经加热了大约45分钟，看起来非常热，但在表演前，薛先生必须穿上防护服。他进行了我生平首次见到的表演。
Traditionally, Dashuhua was performed outside, but the demand is so big today that a specially built venue packs in 1,500 each night. The old city walls have been recreated and throwing molten iron onto those ancient walls was how Mr Xue’s forefathers invented the art.
