The 87-year-old singer Tang Xiaomei performed in her home before a small audience on Aug 8. This might seem slightly unusual, but then again, Tang Xiaomei is hardly your average woman in her eighties. Raised in Zhoushi, a small town near Kunshan, Tang has spent the best part of seven decades collecting traditional folk songs of rural Jiangsu.

As is her custom, her recent performance was given without instrumental accompaniment and she delighted the audience with her vocal range - she remains able to produce both crisp high notes and powerful low ones. In a touching moment, two generations harmonized as Tang's daughter-in-law joined her onstage.

Deeply influenced by the rural culture that surrounded her as a young woman, Tang's lifelong journey to collect the songs of her native countryside has taken her from field to community hall and from rural hamlet to sizable regional town.

She started learning folk songs as a 15-year-old and says that she can now sing around 60 songs, many of which she created. Tang's songs have a broad focus and include themes such as farmers working the fields, the natural world, and the relationships between men and women.

Although her lifelong endeavor has been hard work, she recognizes her own fortune at having discovered and cultivated a true passion in life.

"It's not easy to find something you truly enjoy and I consider myself lucky. Time waits for no one and I see it as my duty to pass on these wonderful folk songs to the next generation."

Yet choosing protégées is neither easy nor something that Tang takes lightly. She is only willing to accept students with genuine passion and who will be able to carry on the tradition.

Thanks to the local authorities of Kunshan, art forms, such as those nurtured by Tang, have become recognized as intangible aspects of local cultural heritage. This has led to their promotion and practice on regional campuses and in community centers.

So, while Tang Xiaomei struggles to find the perfect maestro to carry forward the great cultural tradition she promotes, she should be slightly more at ease knowing that the onus isn't entirely on her.