This song not only features a unique technique, the lyrics are also improvised. The lyrics are “Where did the wind blow from today. I must have had a good dream as a valuable guest has come. I have sung many shange, but nothing like this has happened before. As I’m singing to a foreigner, I’m sure shange will now spread to the world.”

The Kam sing many songs during festive season. This is a welcoming song sung by more than ten women welcoming visitors at the village entrance. When the song is finished, each visitor is poured a cup of wine.

A song by three girls dressed up in traditional Kam attire. The Kam children do not hesitate when asked by adults to sing.

Feige means a song like flying birds. The vocal technique effectively reproduces the feeling of flying birds. This vocal technique is typical of Miao singing.

This flute music is played by the Yi people when herding sheep. It is an interesting melody reminiscent of the Korean sanjo music.

This was recorded during the huobajie ( bonfire festival) of the Yi people. Numerous young men and women come out at night and circle a bonfire in the yard. They sing and dance late into the night.

The yueqin is a three-stringed instrument with a round full-moon shaped resonance chamber. Although the instrument has a simple structure, its techniques are quite complicated. The yueqin is a key instrument used in the music and dance of the Yi people.

Yi women in certain regions sing beautiful love songs in remarkably high voices. Haicai in the song title refers to the name of a region, while qiang means melody.

Lusheng is an instrument made from thick and thin bamboo tubes, widely played among the ethnic minorities of Southwestern China. in this recording, three lusheng of different sizes create a unique harmony. The musicians were performing a dance with simple steps while playing.

The Kam are known to be the best singers among the dozens of ethnic minorities in China. These polyphonic songs are great demonstrations of their singing ability. This particular song was sung by young girls.

Shange means ‘song of the mountains’ and are commonly sung by the people of southwestern China. They sing the songs while working and during breaks between work. The lyrics are usually about love between man and woman.

This is one of the ten pieces of Thập Thủ Liên Hườn. According to Đờn ca tài tử researcher Nguyễn Tấn, these ten pieces came from the reign of King Quang Trung (the end of eighteenth century) when a diplomatic delegation to the capital of the Thanh dynasty (China) attended the longevity ceremony of Càn Long King. They explored many beautiful places in China and composed ten poems to praise the Chinese scenery after returning to Vietnam. King Quang Trung appointed musical mandarins to set these poems to music for his musical enjoyment. Later, the Đờn ca tài tử circle performed these musical pieces and called them Thập Thủ Liên Hườn. Kim tiền bản musical piece has twenty-six phrases of two bars each. It was played when the diplomatic delegation attended the king’s audience and was rewarded golden coins by the king.