The Yangko dance, also called twisting Yangko dance, is a traditional Chinese folk dance commonly performed in the Northern provinces of China. The dance is smooth and compact in rhythm, featuring jolly scenes, an abundance in dance languages, exuberant gestures, and colorful performance style. Therefore, people often do the Yangko dance during the Spring Festival or to make some other special celebrations.

The Yangko dance was created by the farmers when they worked in the rice field in the Song Dynasty, and was used to worship god of agriculture to pray for bountiful harvest in ancient times. Year after year, the Yangko dance constantly absorbed techniques and forms from farming songs, folk songs, folk Kungfu, acrobatics and dramas. Until the Qing Dynasty, "the Yangko dance" had become popular nationwide.

Because of the differences between regions and customs, some variations exist in Yangko dances. To identify different kinds of Yangko dances, the name of the region or the feature of the dance is often added ahead. For example, the “Drum Yangko dance” in Shandong Province, the “Shanbei Yangko dance” in Shanbei Area, the “Field Yangko dance” in Hebei, Beijing and Liaoning Provinces, and the “Manchu Yangko dance” in the Northeastern China.

There are three types of performances in Chinese Yangko dance: the song-and-dance duets, Yangko performed on the ground and Yangko preformed on stilts. The major accompanying instruments of the Yangko dance include suona (trumpet-like wind instrument), small cymbals, drum, flute, erhu (alto fiddle) and zhuban (bamboo clappers). Yangko dancers usually wear bright and colorful costumes, and their movements are vigorous and quick, with a distinguished local flavor.

The Yangko dance is more than a kind of performing art in China, because many Chinese people take it as an important method for relaxing. They like to organize Yangko dance competition or performances during grand ceremonies and also in their daily life.