Fire dragon dance dazzles crowds during Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiangxi

A traditional fire dragon dance lit up Nanling Village in Ganzhou City, east China's Jiangxi Province, dazzling locals and visitors with flaming bamboo spars and festive rhythms as the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations peaked on Monday.

The festival is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese calendar. As one of China's most important traditional holidays, it is a joyous time when family members appreciate the full moon together and share mooncakes, a traditional pastry, to mark the harvest season and an occasion of family reunion. 

As an intangible cultural heritage of Jiangxi, the traditional fire dragon dance has been passed on for thousands of years. 

The main body of the "fire dragon" is made of bamboo spars and strips of oiled clothes are tied up on the bamboo spars. The oil clothes are ignited at night to make the "fire dragon" luminous. 

This year, the "fire dragon" is composed by 49 bamboo spars, which is carried around by a group of young men. The "fire dragon" was carried through the village, customarily to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune.

"Today, I specifically brought my family to enjoy the event. The scene was even more spectacular than I had imagined, with a huge crowd and a vibrant atmosphere. I think this was an unforgettable cultural experience. It was truly wonderful," said Wang Haichao, a tourist from south China's Guangdong Province.

"Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, we hold this folk activity, which serves as a celebration of the harvest and an anticipation of a better life," said Lu Huaren, a local villager.

Fire dragon dance dazzles crowds during Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiangxi

Even under assumptions that the U.S.-Israel war on Iran does not persist past April and that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz gradually resumes, the world will face the pressure of rising oil prices throughout this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook released on Tuesday, the EIA raised the forecast of Brent crude oil spot price for 2026 to 96 U.S. dollars per barrel from the previous forecast of 79 U.S. dollars a barrel.

Retail gasoline and diesel prices will continue the rising trend this year, said the outlook.

The outlook maintains a risk premium on crude oil prices throughout the forecast period, as the EIA expects uncertainty around future supply disruptions to keep prices above pre-conflict levels.

"Once flows through the Strait of Hormuz resume, we assume it will take time to resolve the backlog and disruption to oil tanker routes and trade flows and that the potential for future disruptions will remain at risk and create a premium in the oil price," it said.

US Energy Information Administration forecasts rising oil prices throughout 2026