Nanyin

Nanyin, also called Quanzhou xianguan, is said to have formed when music carried south by Han-to-Song migrants from the Central Plains merged with local Minnan folk music, preserving much ancient melody.

It is played on the dongxiao flute, pipa, erxian, sanxian and clappers; its repertoire falls into instrumental suites, scores and songs, sung in the Quanzhou dialect in a slow, elegant style.

Hailed as a 'living fossil' of Chinese music, it entered the first national ICH list in 2006 and was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

It is still kept alive and performed regularly at Nanyin clubs, transmission centres and opera stages across Quanzhou.