Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily

In a recent concert held at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, a trendy shopping area in downtown Beijing, he performed Menghua songs.

"This place is wonderful, this road is crowded, I wish to marry a girl from here and make her part of my family," he sang in Yi dialect with videos of his village scenery displayed on the screens behind. The bearded and bald man wore a long sleeveless jacket made of sheepskin, open to show his bare chest, and a pair of loose black pants. His handmade embroidered belt was tied around his big belly.

Most of the audience didn't understand Yi dialect, so they listened to the songs as if hearing a foreign language. But they cheered and applauded the vibrant rhythm and the singer's powerful voice. His performance included songs for wedding ceremonies that were accompanied by bamboo flutes, reed pipes and lutes.

As one of the programs of the Beijing Music Festival, the concert, titled Walking on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, also brought artists from eight other ethnic groups of Yunnan province, including the Blang, Va and Bai.