The word 'dawaz" in Uygur means aerial tightrope walking. According to historical records and uncovered relics, this form of art has had at least a history of over 2000 years. The traditional dawaz artist uses a long pole to balance himself and does not have any safety measures when he performs on an 80-meter long rope suspended 30-40 meters above the ground, sometimes walking back and forth, sometimes sitting cross-legged, and sometimes saddling the rope or walking sideways,and even walking blind-folded and somersaulting on it, or faking a fall and then instantly sitting on the robe with both legs. His performance is accompanied with drumbeats from the ground. In 1990, the regional government gathered dawaz artists, such as Adil, who were scattered all over Xinjiang,and included them in the Xinjiang Acrobatic Troupe which made the dawaz a regular item on the troupe's repertoire.

In October of 1997, Adil,with 17 years of experience as a dawaz artist, successfully crossed the natural barrier of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, on a 604-meter-long steel rope strung across the river, 402 meters above thc
ground,and using only one-third the time the 'aerial prince' Cochran did to walk that same distance,creating a new
Guinness record that rocked the world.