Editor's Note:  This article is produced in collaboration with the Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies as part of a series of ongoing reports exploring the city's abundant resources in intangible cultural heritages.

"The honey-tasting carrots being on the market, we are aware that the New Year is forthcoming..." Pengshui Miao & Tujia Autonomous County celebrates and greets the New Year with Miao folk songs.

The Miao singer sings folk songs on the Ayi River (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Situated in the Wuling Mountain Area, downstream of the Wujiang River, Pengshui County is the only ethnic minority autonomous county dominated by Miao in Chongqing and inhabited by most Miao in China. With the rich ethnic customs, the Miao descendants who live here can sing and dance well. Besides Jiao Ayi (the name of a folk song), a sea of Miao folk songs featuring Miao style are created over a long period, including Guo Shan Chanty, Mang Chanty, and Dao Caicha.

Folk songs on the Ayi River (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Ren Maoshu can sing Jiao Ayi since she was a little girl. And her love for folk songs of the Miao was rooted in her heart since childhood.

"I developed a love for singing because of my parents and villagers," said Ren Maoshu. She learned the most natural and authentic Miao folk songs under the influence of the villagers and her parents.

Ren Maoshu (Photo provided to iChongqing)

In her childhood, nearly all the elders in the village could sing a few words from Miao songs. As she followed her parents down the fields, adults hummed songs while working. And it became livelier at rest time, during which they sang in antiphonal style.

Folk songs on the Ayi River (Photo provided to iChongqing)

With endless efforts and step by step, Ren Maoshu performed her songs on different platforms, from school to scenic spots, then the stage of CCTV, and even the TV sets of the whole China, and finally, she made her voice heard by the people all over China. Therefore, People began to know the most primitive Miao folk songs.

Folk songs on the Ayi River (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Now, as long as you visit Ayi River, you will hear her voice sing out in a clear and loud tone.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage, dynamic culture with life, relies on the people. To keep a long-lasting Miao Folk song culture, beyond protection, there is inheritance.

Folk songs on the Ayi River (Photo provided to iChongqing)

To carry on the Miao folk songs, Ren Maoshu goes to school every semester to teach children Miao folk songs. Through the way, inheritors can enter the classroom. Thus more and more students get to know Miao folk songs and even sing them, and Miao folk songs, as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, will be better protected and inherited.

Many other inheritors like Ren Maoshu, dedicated their lives to pursuing cultural continuity, standing fast to safeguard and inherit the culture against the risk of declining and losing.

Chinese script: Shao Feiya
Tutored by: Zhou Yuan

Translation: Wan Fengsha
Tutored by: Liu Jun   Cao Li

Voice-over: Liang Shengdong
Tutored by: Xing Dandan