So a lot of lore fans / CN speaking players would already know all of this, but how Xiao is a dancer whose real form is a bird (a peng mythical bird to be precise) and this is something easily missed by non CN speaking players: a thread / #xiao #Genshin_Impact

In EN, Xiao's real name is said to be 'Alatus,' and his constellation name is said to be 'Alatus Nemeseos.' As many Xiao fans know 'Alatus' is Latin for 'winged' and this makes sense considering Xiao's anemo vision and fluid gameplay

However, in CN, Xiao's real name is 金鹏. 金 means gold and 鹏 is the character for the peng mythical bird, a giant bird in Taoist/Daoist mythology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology)

Similarly Xiao's constellation in CN is named 金翅鹏王座, lit. "golden-winged peng king constellation." The shape of the constellation is a similar reference. 金翅鹏王 is a known mythical reference to a Buddhist figure related to the Indian Garuda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Winged_Great_Peng

Ref from dev insight https://genshin.mihoyo.com/en/news/detail/8642 eg "... this golden-winged bird deity was a fearsome predator who ate only evil dragons, until one day the dragon poison he had consumed became too much for him to bear, and he burned to death, leaving only a crystal heart behind."

From the same dev insight it was noted that Xiao is not human and his real form can be inferred from the tattoo on his arm (curse you twt cropping). This is how we see the tattoo but it is upside down

Flip it over and you'll see Xiao's actual form as an illuminated beast (thank u to @liminal_blue for first showing this to me and blowing my mind). The shape of it is quite similar to the ones we already have for Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper

It should be noted though that I think CR and MS are more crane-inspired adepti while a peng is... more flashy grand and dramatic usually. To this day it's a common character in Chinese boys' names and my cousin has it as his first name LOL

Anyway the implication is that unlike CR and MS who reside in their domains deep in Jueyun Karst and isolate themselves from the world, Xiao mostly stays in his human form. This is likely more convenient for his yaksha duties (other yakshas also used humanoid forms)

Pervases, a junior yaksha, also was a bird who showed himself to us in a human form. His CN name is 铜雀, "copper sparrow," which matches his junior station (he's basically an inferior Xiao in both name & ability poor guy DID HE NAME HIMSELF THAT WAY BECAUSE HE LOOKED UP TO XIAO)

Anyway the question is ARE WE EVER GOING TO SEE XIAO IN HIS REAL FORM to which I hope the answer is yes because goddamn he would be pretty. Especially curious to see if the "golden wings" is just a metaphor / title or if he will. Literally have golden wings

RE: Xiao as a dancer - Xiao's fighting regimen is called "The Bane of All Evil" in EN while in CN it's called 靖妖傩舞, "the Nuo dance of evil conquering". Just like in the Alatus/金鹏 example in CN it's very obvious that Xiao is a bird and dancer

The Nuo dance is an ancient art form from Southern China that also carries many ritualistic/religious meanings. It's heavily associated with the use of masks and aims to drive away evil influences

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201803/06/WS5a9e00fca3106e7dcc13fd98.html#:~:text=The%20Nuo%20dance%20is%20a,AD)%20to%20dispel%20evil%20spirits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuo_opera 

With the knowledge that Xiao is essentially dancing for war every time he ults or fights, his namecard also makes a lot more sense, as he craves to dance not for battle and bloodshed, but for peace and joy. It's probably also why he enjoyed Venti's music so much

Anyway that's my quick talk about Xiao and how it'd be lovely if mhy and content creators could show more of his bird symbolism and desire to dance! For more rantings about lore and esp CN and China related refs feel free to check out my twitter :)

OH I KNEW I MISSED SOMETHING WIFHEIFHWDWF
THIS WEAPON? IS ALSO NAMED AFTER A BIRD. The 鸢 is considered to be a small bird of prey related to eagles, and often used to refer to black kites as well as paper kites. READ THE WEAPON STORIES!!