Er-ren Zhuan from Northeast China

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Er-ren Zhuan (二人转) is a genre of local folk dance and song from Northeast China. It usually consists of two people, a boy and a girl. They sing as well as dance, using folded fans or red square handkerchiefs (which are twirled along as a song is performed) during the dancing portion.

It is enjoyed by a majority of uneducated rural people of Northern Chinese people before. Nowadays it is popular among more and more educated people all around China mainly because of its funny dialogue.

It was generally believed that in the mid-Qing Dynasty, the "Bengbeng" (蹦蹦) was evolved from a folk dance called dong bei da yang ge (东北大秧歌) and folk songs called lian hua lao (莲花落), a kind of ballad.

It absorbed foreign music and performance skills of Northeast folk songs, peaceful drums, bass drums and other sister arts in the Northeast during its development. Its melody is very rich.

Er-ren Zhuan is now becoming better known in the rest of China, thanks to the fact that many Er-ren Zhuan performers have gone to perform on TV, as well as act in TV serials. Zhao Benshan is the most famous example.

Xiao Shenyang and his wife in the Er-ren Zhuan performance 

The Er-ren Zhuan popular star Xiao Shenyang (real name: Shen He) who was born in Tieling city of Liaoning Province became a representative actor of Er-ren Zhuan performances after his wonderful performance with his Master Zhao Benshan in the yearly CCTV Spring Festival Gala of 2009.

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