Happy Thanksgiving! I know the holidays can be stressful, so today, I’m posting about a beautiful thing that may help lower your blood pressure, at least for a few minutes.

This is a dance choreographed and designed to bring to life the famous Chinese masterpiece by Wang Ximeng called A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains. The silk scroll painting measures roughly 1.5 feet x 39 feet, and was completed in 1113 when the artist was only 18. He, in fact, only lived to 23, and this is his only surviving work.

Produced by the China Oriental Performing Arts Group, the performance is entitled Only Green (or possibly Only Blue and Green or Only This Green. The internet couldn’t make up its mind). The show was performed all over China in 2022 as part of China’s Spring Festival Gala.

I found it fascinating that rather than stretching and warming up their bodies before the performance, the dancers instead spent time pre-show quieting their minds. It was the goal of the dancers to perform without facial expressions, portraying the calm disposition of both the ancient scholars and the mountains themselves. Such discipline!

You can learn more about the original painting on the Shanshui Projects website.