Feeling disheartened yet undeterred, Zhang and his teacher, Yu Weizhao, decided to formally establish a women's team to legitimize the female lion dance. They custom-made flags and banners inscribed with "women's team", crafted pink and purple lion heads, which are rarely seen in male lion dance, and even fashioned a lion head resembling the image of the female general Mu Guiying, a famous figure in Yue Opera.

"Although we recruited more girls and trained rigorously, we still had few gigs booked, so we decided to participate in competitions first. We hoped that after the girls won awards and proved themselves, they might be accepted by more people," Zhang explained.

Their breakthrough came in 2021 when the girls triumphed over all-male teams and won the first prize in a competition in Guangzhou's Baiyun district. The following year, at the 16th Guangdong Provincial Games, the girls once again clinched the top prize in the junior group representing Guangzhou.

Since then, they have continued to win awards. The team now boasts over 20 girls from several villages, ranging in age from 7 to 19, with their trophies and medals adorning a large cupboard.

In the recent Maofeng Mountain competition just before Spring Festival in Guangzhou, the team performed a routine titled "Tramping Over Mountains and Hills Step by Step".The performance showcased the lion leaping over benches, climbing ladders set up as mountains, stumbling, getting back up, and finally plucking greens.

"This performance mirrors the growth journey of these girls themselves as they navigate through numerous challenges," Zhang said.

Li Jiawen, 17, portrayed the lion's head in this performance. Lifting the heavy prop, she had to ascend to heights of at least 1.7 meters while skillfully conveying the rich facial expressions of the lion.

Behind Li's near-perfect performance is her dedication and hard work. Despite the demanding schoolwork, she attended the lion dance team's training sessions every Friday and Saturday from 7:30 pm to 10 pm. As soon as her high school final exams were finished, she was the first to return to the team to focus on competition preparation.