Tapping its cultural diversity

Wu Chunxiu, a Miao silversmith from Shidong town, Taijiang. Her father Wu Shuigen is recognized as a nationallevel intangible cultural heritage inheritor. [Photo by Xingyi/China Daily]

A project launched in Guiyang, the capital of the province, recently aims to bring local cultures closer to city's residents and visitors.

Guizhou province is relatively poor in terms of GDP, but extremely rich when it comes to cultural diversity. Out of 56 ethnic groups in China, 54 of them are found in the province.

Recently, a project was launched at the Guizhou Cultural and Creative Park, 1 kilometer from the airport at Guiyang, the capital of the province, to bring local cultures closer to city's residents and visitors.

Called the Weekend Gathering of Intangible Cultural Heritage, organizers invited local performers and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage from the province to showcase their cultures in the park from June to October. A different county will be featured each weekend.

According to Jiang Guiwu, the president of the company that runs the park, 20 counties in total will showcase their cultural heritage in the coming months.

Wearing a traditional outfit and silver jewelry, Tian Feiyan is one of the more than 30 performers from the Miao ethnic group in Taijiang county, some 200 km east of the provincial capital of Guiyang, who presented a dance last weekend.

"We dance when there are festivals," says Tian. "The most recent one is the Sisters Festival ... All the girls go dancing in our village."

The festival is known as the "Miao Valentine's Day", when young girls and boys dance together, eat specially prepared glutinous rice, and make friends. It is celebrated mostly in Taijiang county, and had been listed as national intangible cultural heritage since 2006.

Music is played, drums are banged, and silver accessories jingle as Tian and her friends start to dance.

Besides dancing, the villagers perform a traditional worship ceremony.