Folk acrobatics shows go back to the Song Dynasty when they were put on as part of court celebrations and common festivals. In the mid-20th century, acrobatics performers came to Taiwan amid historic changes and started to perform in theatres, clubs, and disco halls, or joined military recreational units. In early times, the national government valued acrobatic performances very much. In 1973, the Chunghwa Acrobatics Troupe was formed by the Ministry of Education, and the troupe was regularly sent abroad to perform for diplomatic purposes. In 1978, the Chunghwa Folk Arts Training Center, established by Li Tang-hua, started training talented acrobatics performers. In 1982, National Fu Xing Drama School (later National Taiwan College of the Performing Arts) added the Department of Acrobatics and Dance to offer a complete education in both general subjects and professional studies.

Plate-turning Acrobatics is a very common form of acrobatics. The performer, usually a female, holds bamboo poles with plates spinning around on top of the poles and performs graceful and skillful movements, such as leaping, turning upside down, bending down to pick up flowers with her teeth, and standing on one foot and spinning in circles. From holding one little pole with a plate spinning on its top to holding three bamboo poles in each hand with plates spinning on top, takes one to three years of practice since the performer needs to control her wrists and practice many kinds of movements. So this is one of the most difficult performances in traditional acrobatics shows.