AsiaNet 200676

QINGYANG, China, Jan. 27, 2025 / Xinhua-AsiaNet / --The Chinese New Year is filling the air, families are celebrating the reunion. In Huanxian County of Qingyang, a gala centered around intangible cultural heritage and folk culture is on show.

As a local specialty folk art form, Daoqing Shadow Play utilizes spotlight, wields shadow puppets, conducts an orchestra and conveys emotions. It perfectly blends folk music, craft art and oral literature to tell stories of common people. It is renowned as "Living Fossil of Eastern Folk Culture" and is listed in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Shadow Play is an iconic representative of Chinese intangible cultural heritages, as well as one of the important Spring Festival customs.

One piece of screen, one operates the sticks of the puppet, one sings and the band echoes, the light and shadow contrasts. With unique melodies and vivid performance, the atmosphere of Spring Festival gets even denser with singing, speaking, acting and fighting of the Shadow Play, leaving visitors lingering on.

Huanxian County is located deep in the Loess Plateau where Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia Provinces meet each other. It is of vast area and distinctive natural sceneries, as well as a town of hidden gem full of history and culture. Citizens and tourists are immersed in the festival's vibe, feeling the beauty of intangible cultural heritage and special folk customs from no distance. As the very first Spring Festival holiday since the successful application of global cultural heritage, checking in on various kinds of cultural heritage activities is becoming a new trend for people to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Source: Huanxian County Integrated Media Center