Witnessing heritage: Xi's cultural encounters (5)

President Xi Jinping has always emphasized the importance of protecting and promoting intangible cultural heritage. Following in his footsteps, let's explore the outstanding Chinese intangible cultural heritage.

Today, we highlight the folk art of Suide county, Shaanxi province, a remarkable example of China's rich intangible cultural heritage. Suide's folk art encompasses a diverse range of traditional practices, including yangko dance, suona music, stone carving, paper-cutting and clay sculpture. Among these, Shaanbei yangko dance, Suimi suona music and Suide stone carving have all been recognized as China's national intangible cultural heritage.

Visiting an exhibition hall for local intangible cultural heritage in Suide during his inspection in Shaanxi province on Sept 14, 2021, Xi viewed displays of stone carvings, paper-cutting, folk songs and clay sculptures, and was greeted with a stunning performance of yangko, a traditional folk dance popular in northern China. During a conversation with the dancers, Xi said, "Folk art is precious to the Chinese nation, and it should be well preserved, inherited and put to good use."

Noting that Suide is an important birthplace of the Loess Culture with abundant resources of intangible cultural heritage and traditional folk art, Xi called on people to find the link between traditional culture and modern life so as to meet people's ever-growing needs for a better life.