This lion dance team has kept a Chinese tradition alive in London for 104 years

Passersby can hear the sounds of London's traditional Chinese lion dancers at least a block away before coming face-to-face with the gold and silver animal costumes moving to a drum beat on the lawn of a local church.

Once a week, approximately 20 dancers and drummers meet to practice the traditional dance that sees two people wearing a colourful lion costume — one person as the head and one person as a tail. They move to the beat, often telling a story along the way. 

"I've had a lot of good memories," said 16-year-old Byron Cao, one of the younger team members who range in age from 6 to 50. 

The memories have been made for a long time. The team is part of London's Chinese Freemasons which started  informally lion dancing in the city 104 years ago. Some dancers are fifth generation members. 

WATCH: Lion dancers show their skills

"The first time I came in here, I was really reckless with the stuff," Cao said, who first joined the team when he needed community hours for school. "You need a certain technique and a certain flow, and now that I've gotten used to this, it's just nailed into my veins."

Dance coach Alex Tang says the lion is an energetic creature who, in the stories, goes on a journey. 

"They wake up, go hunting, take a curious walk through the river, go through the mountains and eat. After their meal, the lions celebrate with a happy dance before peacefully going away," Tang said.

Performing the lion dance is said to remove bad luck and bring good luck to celebrations and festivals. 

Peng Huang discovered the team when he helped book them for a Chinese New Year event at his daughter's school two years ago. He quickly began training with the team and ended up performing at that school celebration. 

"I decided I need to continue on to show more people, especially the next generation of kids — it doesn't matter [if they're] Chinese or not Chinese – and pretty much all Canadians about this dance and culture," said Huang.

Lion dancing requires a level of athleticism. Huang called it a "5 out of 10" on the scale of activity.

"The head is a little bit heavy," said Huang. "If you do that a lot, then you don't need to go to the gym for your biceps."

The person behind the head is responsible for giving the lion personality: they use a string to make the eyes blink and flap the mouth to emulate licking. The person at the tail follows the lead of the head. They ensure their legs, which act as the lion's back legs, move in sync with the lion's front half.