The Chinese zither, called guqin, has existed for over 3,000 years and represents China’s foremost solo musical instrument tradition. Described in early literary sources and corroborated by archaeological finds, this ancient instrument is inseparable from Chinese intellectual history.
The Urtiin duu or “long song” is one of the two major forms of Mongolian songs, the other being the short song” (bogino duu).
The Xinjiang Uyghur Muqam is the general term for a variety of Muqam practices widespread among the Uyghur communities, which form one of the largest ethnic minorities of the People’s Republic of China.
Regarded as the New Year of Dai ethnic minority, the Water-Splashing Festival is the traditional occasion for Dai and the most influential festival in Yunnan Province.
Recognized as the grandest traditional festival of the Yi ethnic minority, the Torch Festival is full of rich and colorful activities. Worshiping ancestors, visiting relatives and friends to convey their best wishes are the main events of the first day.
As a traditional festival of Lisu ethnic minority, the Knife-Pole Festival expresses good wishes to everyone of the Lisu. A phrase describing bravery in China goes like this, "climbing the Knife Mountain and diving into the Fire Sea" and the Knife-Pole Festival is a vivid depiction of this.
The four-day Sister Festival, dubbed as the ethnic Miao´s folk Valentine´s Day, features series of folklore fetes, including full-dress grand parade, folk game for fun, dragon canoe race, bullfight as appealing tourist attraction of folk art.
Buluotuo Scriptures is the primitive religious scriptures of the Zhuang ethnic group of China. It is also the creative epic and folk literary work of the Zhuang ethnics.
Tibetan play is an important cultural component of Tibetans´ social life. Called "Ace Lhamo" in Tibetan, it is very popular in Tibet, Sichuan, Qinghai and Yunnan Provinces where many Tibetans live.
Also called "Galao" the Tong grand songs, called as such because they are sung by large groups of people, are a kind of folk music that originated in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The songs are performed in male and female antistrophic form,and are usually sung during holidays in adrum toweror near a bonfire.
Originated from the primitive sacrificial dance, the Tujia hand-swinging dance of western Hu´nan is a folk dance most characteristic of the Tujia nationality and best representative of the age-old Tujia traditions.
As the most famous traditional folk dance of the Dai Minority in China, peacock dance is prevalent in the Dai and Jingpo minority autonomous prefectures as well as gathering areas of the Dai people.
Nadam, which means entertainment or games in Mongolian, is regarded as a great festival. It is held every August, when the livestock is fat and strong. Nadam, in fact, is a large entertainment gathering for celebrating the harvest.
Lusheng is an antique reed instrument. The longest measures more than 1 zhang (1 zhang = 3.3 meters), while the shortest is less than 1 chi (1 chi = 1/3 meter). Some have a maximum of 10 reeds in one Lusheng, while others only have a single reed or two reeds.
Ashima is spread in the Yi Autonomous County in Shilin of Yunnan Province. It is a long narrative poem of the Sani people who are a tributary of the Yi ethnic group. Generations after generations of the Sani people narrate or sing the story of Ashima with oral poem language.
The ballad of Liu Sanjie (Third Sister in the Liu family) is a type of folk song prevalent in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Yizhou City is the representative region where this type of ballad is prevailing. Hence it is identified as the hometown of Liu Sanjie.
The lele cart is a Mongolian-style ox cart also known as "jigger cart", "lolo cart" and "ox wagon". The term "lele" used to be herdsmen´s cry when urging a domestic animal on.
Embroidery and dyeing skill, known as "skein tie" in the ancient time, is a kind of old textile dyeing workmanship in China which is named knot cloth in Dali. As it is mainly produced in Dali and most of the dyers are the people of Bai ethnic group, it is also called Dali Embroidery and Dyeing or Bai Nationality Embroidery and Dyeing.
Hezhe people, who make up one of China´s smallest ethnic minorities (population of 4,000), used to wear clothing made of fish skins and used dogs for hunting, earning the titles of Yupi Tribe (Fish Skin Tribe) and Shiquan Tribe (Dog-using Tribe).
Dongba Art is the primitive religious art special of the Naxi ethnics who live in the frontier area of southwest China and believe in Dongba religion.
The Hui people are one of the ethnic groups that worship Islam in China. Due to the discrepancy in region, gender and sects, their clothes have different styles and features. The Hui people often call clothing "yizhuo" or "chuandai"
Kazak Aites is a typical folk art of the Kazak ethnic group and a contest-type performance of antiphonal singing.
