Fantasy animation tells heartwarming tale

In the short film, when the dead grandfather reappears with his old lion head prop, he picks up his granddaughter and the two of them leap in sync with each other, but using different leg postures.

Due to time restraints, the animation only explores the echo between the two genres briefly in this one scene. Yang says that if the production could have been extended, the scene would be a perfect way to demonstrate the harmony between different dances and different cultures.

The three-minute animation took the team a year and a half to make. Since it was uploaded in 2021 onto video-streaming site Bilibili, it has received overwhelming acclaim from the viewers.

"I really welled up at the end. The grandfather reappears to save his granddaughter, but that leap at the end also represents the inheritance of culture," according to one of the top comments.

Many comments also commended the team's efforts to present authentic Chinese culture. Yang says that she has had an innate fascination for traditional culture from a young age, and this passion drove her to deepen her understanding.