Meng Xuanyou sings during a spring
festival celebration gala in Nongding Village of Bansheng County, south
China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 19, 2015. Nongding and
Nongchao Villages are located in Bansheng County, a rural area of
uninhabitable karst topography in Guangxi, according to the conclusion
of some officials of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Local residents, most of whom belong to the Yao ethnic group, has a
frisky tradition boasting colorful festive costumes, bronze drum and
dance performance. However, this tradition is fading away from local
people's life as young people have more and more opportunities to see
the outside world. In the recent Spring Festival, some young migrant
workers and college students from Nongding and Nongchao decided to do
something about it--they organize a grass-root celebration gala. It took
them a few days to set up and decorate the stage. They prepared
performance costumes, snacks and beverages themselves. The gala had no
sponsor, no advertisement and no SMS voting for the most popular
performer. All actors came from Bansheng County. In the opinion of the
21-year-old gala organizer Meng Xuanyou, who came back from the
neighboring Guangdong Province for the spring festival family reunion,
there are great changes in his hometown over the past few years.
However, culture activities of local people are still humdrum. He and
his friends hope this gala could become the initial effort to bring back
their traditional culture. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)