Shatian Delta Folk Songs

Shatian delta folk songs are sung by the boat people and water-town communities of the Pearl River Delta's reclaimed-land (shatian) areas. Part of the saltwater-song family, they arose from a life of work on the water and are found around Zhuhai.

Sung in dialect, the songs are often improvised or lyrical during boating, fieldwork, and weddings, with flowing melodies tied closely to water-town life. Call-and-response singing between men and women is especially common.

As a provincial-level item of intangible cultural heritage, Shatian folk songs carry the emotions and language culture of the delta's water communities and form an important part of the saltwater-song tradition.

Shatian folk songs can be explored and heard at the cultural venues and folk events of Zhuhai's riverside water towns.