The audience must keep their distance for safety while watching the show.

"Practice makes perfect. You need to have strength and be bold but stay cautious," says Wang De, 59, who has performed dashuhua in the town for 35 years. "It takes about three years to master the basic technique. The molten iron has a temperature of 1,600 C. It's easy to get scalded if you're a novice."

He used to be a blacksmith and studied dashuhua because of the "exciting experience" it offered. Now it has become a steady job, through which he can support his family.

Yuxian county is a getaway that enables visitors to immerse themselves in traditional culture, temporarily leaving behind the hustle and bustle of city life.

Contact the writer at xulin@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

The Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway service started in 2019, reducing the travel time between the two cities from about three hours to 53 minutes. Local COVID-19 control policy should be checked before traveling.