The ancient art of Chinese lion dance has survived through many generations. Evolving from a simple ritual used to chase away evil spirits and bring good fortunes not long ago, it has developed into a sport seen around the world.

This sport of Jong (pole) jumping has developed within the past decade in China. The troupe consists of six to eight players, one person becomes the lion's head, and one becomes the tail.
The rest of the troupe members include various musicians who play the drum, gong and cymbals.

The goal of each routine is to tell a story of the lion climbing up a mountain searching for the flower of immortality. Upon finding the flower of immortality, the lion eats it, but soon feels remorseful and spits it out. With the poles representing the mountain, ranging from 3 to 9.5 foot high, it leaps its way up till it reaches the flower. Elaborate spitting and washing ritual of the lion is part of the traditional dance. While on jumping up and down the mountain, the lion's expressions of happiness, excitement, and fright are portrayed as much as possible like a real animal.

Acrobatic movements can be seen on poles high and low, all on plates only 12 inches wide.
Like the similar sport of figure skating, this sport is judged on character (best portrayal of a lion), difficulty and completion of tricks, and synchronization of the drum and lion. A panel of judges score the teams, and the scores' average is compiled.

There has been explosion of enthusiasm and support as the Lion Dance can now be seen in countries around the world. Biannual competitions are held in Hawaii.