Reviving a grand spectacle

A dance opera features traditional Ordos wedding customs.[Photo provided to China Daily]

However, only a few people who could conduct traditional Mongolian weddings were still active then. Those who conduct the weddings must know Mongolian culture and the wedding rituals well, he says.

A typical Ordos wedding, he says, takes four to five days and is rich with detail.

Though he says he attended big weddings in his childhood, the tradition began to gradually fade away, and the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) hastened its demise.

Speaking about how he managed to produce his dance operas, he says: "I managed to get hold of a few reference books and a few people from the older generation."

Now, to keep the tradition alive, he has set up training schools. Speaking about how long it will take to train the youngsters, he says that while it does not take long to explain the process to the students, it takes lots of practice - like hosting many weddings - to perfect the skill.

"We have to ensure those who want to conduct traditional weddings are knowledgeable if we want to revive tradition."

Today, 32 people can conduct such weddings in Ordos, and some of them are in their 30s.

For the future, he plans to have 28 training centers on Ordos' grasslands.

Explaining the need for so many training centers, he says this is because of the various styles of weddings in different banners, or county-level administrative regions in Inner Mongolia.

For instance, in the Ejin Horo banner, where the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan is located, the weddings of the local Darhad people - who have been guarding the mausoleums for the last 800 years - are not ostentatious.

However, weddings in the Uxin banner are more flamboyant and colorful.