Feng Li’s Golden Times is a wild, energetic documentation of a short-lived but fascinating phenomenon that occurred near the photographer’s home of Chengdu. Having returned from a job in Tokyo, Feng Li noticed videos on social media of large groups of people dancing to electric music in an uninviting field (nicknamed the Golden Beach) and decided to have a look for himself. The photographs in Golden Times capture the spontaneous and eclectic atmosphere of the nightly gatherings. Local villagers, most of them in their 40s or 50s, mix with children or costumed youngsters filming themselves as they continue to dance into the night.

“[T]hey could dance for two or three hours without stopping, and I was deeply moved by a certain passion for life. I went there five times in a week to film them dancing in the twilight. Later on, they moved the dance venue, but fortunately, I was able to capture the moment of their wildly dancing life.” ― from Feng Li’s statement