Cui Bingzhen (second left) instructs a foreign student to learn lion dance skills. (Photo/Yu Hong)

At the gymnasium of Huzhou Normal University in east China's Zhejiang Province, brightly colored lion costumes leap and tumble to rhythmic drumbeats. Beneath the lion heads are foreign students mastering the traditional Chinese lion dance.

Surprisingly, their lion dance coach, Cui Bingzhen (Chinese name), is himself a foreigner. Hailing from South Korea, he dedicates every Tuesday and Thursday evening to teaching lion dance techniques to students at the university. Over the past 13 years, he has generously shared his knowledge with 316 international students from 47 countries during his spare time.

Chinese lion dance is a traditional sport that combines martial arts, dance, and music. As an auspicious cultural symbol associated with celebration and festivity, its visual appeal, artistic expression, and competitive nature have made it widely popular among the public and in overseas Chinese communities.

Broadly speaking, Chinese lion dance is divided into two major schools: the southern style and the northern style. The southern style of the lion dance was included in the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

Cui studied traditional martial arts in South Korea from an early age, with his grandmaster being a Chinese national from east China's Shandong Province. Due to his strong interest in traditional Chinese martial arts, Cui pursued further education at Shanghai University of Sport in 2002 and later pursued a doctoral degree in traditional sports at the same university.

During his doctoral studies, the university established a lion dance troupe. Cui joined the troupe, and has maintained an unbreakable bond with the southern style of the lion dance ever since.

In 2010, Cui joined Huzhou Normal University as a martial arts instructor. When the university formed a lion dance troupe in 2012, Cui volunteered to become the coach, a role he has maintained for 13 years.

The university's lion dance troupe currently has 38 members, predominantly international students from 28 countries. It has previously won first place in both the Zhejiang provincial dragon and lion dance championship and the martial arts competition of the University Games of Zhejiang Province. During the 18th Chinese Talent Show by International Students of Zhejiang Province held on April 18, 2025, the troupe's foreign members won widespread acclaim for their outstanding performance.

Cui aspires to build a bridge that showcases the beauty of traditional Chinese folk performance art and enable more foreigners to appreciate and learn Chinese lion dance.

"My goal is to nurture both 'accomplished disciples' and future 'masters,' planting a seed in the hearts of international students so that Chinese lion dance can flourish with even greater vitality as it is passed down in more countries and regions worldwide," Cui said.

To date, Cui has taught lion dance to a total of 594 Chinese and foreign students. This foreign instructor, while spreading traditional lion dance culture, is simultaneously writing his own story of cultural exchange.