 There are more than 700 different dragon dances in China.The lion dance has been suggested to have been introduced from outside China as lion is not native to China, and the Chinese word for lion itself, "shi" (獅), may have been derived from the Persian word "šer".Detailed description of lion dances appeared during the Tang dynasty and it was then recognized as a foreign import, but the dance may have existed in China as early as the third century CE.