The Girl Who Dances Saye'erhe

Success isn't escaping a poor hometown, but helping it overcome poverty.

Born into a family that favors boys over girls, Xiaohua despises the way she is treated. She wants to escape, and she will escape. She chooses a traditional cultural practice everyone else avoids: performing Saye'erhe.

Saye'erhe is a Tujia funeral custom with a history of 3,000 years, also known as "beating funeral drums."

Some say funeral drum dancing is unlucky and means making money off the dead. Others say a woman dancing funeral drums is simply unheard of.

But she insists on doing what others say cannot be done. With conviction, perseverance, and innovation, she helps tradition evolve with the times and take on a fresh look amid the tides of history, leading her hometown onto the road to prosperity.