 Also on particular holidays , street parades take place . These are lively affairs which invariably involve firecrackers and flower @-@ covered floats broadcasting traditional music . They also variously include lion dances and dragon dances ; human @-@ occupied puppets ( often of the " Seventh Lord " and " Eighth Lord " ) ; tongji ( <unk> " spirit @-@ medium ; shaman " ) who cut their skin with knives ; <unk> , which are <unk> @-@ practicing honor guards in demonic makeup ; and palanquins carrying god @-@ images . The various participants are not considered performers , but rather possessed by the gods and spirits in question . 
