The Immortal Crane Dance is an ancient folk dance circulating in the urban area of Jining.
It belongs to the category of prop dance in its original form. The props of the crane are made of bamboo, and its long neck, wings and tail are covered with white silk, and then decorated with spikes symbolizing feathers. During the performance, the crane is driven by an actress, hidden in the props, called "White Crane Fairy".
The crane is generally referred to as the Danding Crane (a bird of the genus Crane), with a body length of about 160 centimeters, a wingspan of 240 centimeters, and a weight of about 7,000-10,500 grams. The whole body is pure white, the top of the head is bare and featherless, vermillion color, forehead and eye first slightly with black feathers, behind the eye ear feathers to the occiput white, cheeks, throat and neck black; secondary and tertiary flight feathers are black, tertiary flight feathers are long and curved, bow-shaped, covering the tail.
Thus, the tail, which is black when standing, is actually the tertiary flight feathers, while the tail, primary flight feathers, and entire body plumage are all white, and highly visible when flying. The beak is long and light greenish-gray, and the neck and legs are also long; the long, curved flight feathers in the middle of each wing are black, and the whole of them cover the tail when standing, often leading to the mistaken belief that it has a black tail feather. The male and female are similar.