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Among dozens of minority groups in southwestern China’s Guizhou province, the Dong ethnic group is widely known for its tradition of passing on culture and knowledge in music, especially in “dage”, or Grand Song in Chinese.

As a group art form, Grand Songs are performed formally in the drum-tower, a landmark venue for rituals, entertainment and meetings in a Dong village. Most of the choir are women aged from teens to elders.

Narrating history, daily life and romance stories of the Dong ethnic group, Grand Song performances have become an attraction for tourists visiting Dong villages. The art form remains a crucial symbol of Dong ethnic identify and cultural heritage.

The Dong ethnic group has around 3 million population in China, most of whom more traditional Dong live in eastern Guizhou. The Dong people attach great importance to preserving their traditions and remembering their origins. Songs are believed by them to be a good way to appreciate their origins.

To observe and experience this tradition in person, American vlogger Brenna and her family visited a Dong village in southeastern Guizhou. The family learned to sing the Grand Song with a local choir and joined their performance. They also experienced other local folk arts such as printing and dyeing.

Contact: Zhong Lei

Tel：008610-68996566

E-mail：ervinz@cnmatters.com

Why smart cities? From all perspectives, it ticks all the boxes: innovation, technology and new economy. On a day-to-day basis, it makes our urban environments more liveable, it saves energy, keeps traffic flowing and keeps us safe.

In 2020, China was estimated to have some 800 smart cities under construction or in planning – that’s about half of the world’s total. And that number is continually rising. And key to powering these smart cities is technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence and big data.

Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou province, has been a hotbed for experimenting with digital transformation in the country’s push towards building smart cities, thus a smart society. Smart cities are an integral part of China’s continued push for urbanization to drive the country’s economic development now and in the years to come. More than 5,000 big data companies take residence in Guiyang including Alibaba, Baidu, Apple and Google, to name a few. That’s because, for years, Guizhou has been home to the country’s first national big data experimental zone. And now it has opened the floodgates for a shift from a smart-city concept to a smart-city reality.

China Matters’ Josh Arslan goes to Guiyang to see what ordinary folks can get out of living in a smart city? What benefits it brings? He also meets up with people behind the innovations that power a smart city from facial recognition to a car parking app vital in congested cities to autonomous vehicles, redefining the way we live, work and play.

Contact: Li Siwei

Tel:008610-68996566

E-mail：lisiwei5125@gmail.com

China Matters features the living heritage of Miao Embroidery in Guizhou

Tucked in southwestern China’s complex terrains and one of the China’s four major plateaus, Guizhou province is home to dozens of minority groups. One of the largest is the Miao ethnic group. With a history of over 2,000 years, the Miao ethnic group came into an early form during the Qin and Han dynasties. Today around half of its 11 million population is distributed across Guizhou province.

Mainly inhabiting mainly in mountainous regions, the Miao people live on farming and animal husbandry. The ethnic group is also known for its distinctive and exquisite clothing and embroidery. Miao people are born embroidery talents. Taught by their mothers and sisters, Miao women start to be trained for Miao embroidery around seven years old. As teens, they are already skilled in handicrafts. Huawu village, located in Guizhou province’s Qianxi city, is home to thousands of talented Miao embroidery handicrafts artists. Relocated from the mountain regions to the new residential areas, the Huawu villagers are making a better living out of Miao embroidery. They also made immense efforts in improving the ecological environment alongside the Wujiang River.

To tap into a complete story, the British video journalist Adam travels from Shanghai to Huawu village to find out more. He visited the Miao embroidery workshop in the village and learned how this time-honored art is passed down throughout generations. Adam also witnessed the transformation from the obsolete cottages where villagers lived several years ago to their brand-new, neatly arrayed houses in their resettlement community.

Contact: Zhong Lei

Tel：008610-68996566

E-mail：ervinz@cnmatters.com

Zheng’an is a small town located in southwest China’s Guizhou Province. Despite its small size, it has already become the world’s largest guitar-maker, with an industrial park of over 100 guitar-related companies and factories, producing 6 million guitars per year and exporting to over 30 countries and regions.
However, just 10 years ago, Zheng’an was still severely impoverished and its guitar industry was practically non-existent. Its severe lack of jobs left many locals with no choice but to leave home and seek employment elsewhere. But starting in 2013, Zheng’an has taken itself from zero industry to the world’s largest guitar manufacturer in less than a decade. And this incredible transformation has brought massive changes to life here.
Jack from China Matters travels to Zheng’an to get a first-hand look at how this town is attracting so many companies? What new ideas are they seeing in production and what’s so unique about their handcrafted guitars?
And after becoming the world’s largest maker of guitars, how is it changing life in the town to the tune of guitars? Jack looks deeper into what makes the town special.

Contact: Li Siwei
Tel:008610-68996566
E-mail：lisiwei5125@gmail.com

FAST, or the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, is the largest radio telescope in the world. It is not only an achievement of Chinese astronomical science and technology, but marks an important step in the astronomical exploration of mankind.

Chinese scientist Nan Rendong first proposed the idea of building FAST in 1994. In the following 12 years, Nan and his team screened out 391 potential hollows in the mountains of Guizhou. Finally, they selected a unique site that was most suitable for the construction of FAST. This site is free from nearly any interference of human activity signals. And there are many sunken limestone caves which form a natural “sinkhole” that can support the astronomical equipment.

To improve the flexibility of the telescope, Chinese scientists independently developed an automatic reflector, which can adjust the cable net structure to enable FAST to automatically capture signals from outer space.

After FAST began operating in 2017, more and more scientists, from both China and abroad, have come to Guizhou. As a big fan of space exploration, British vlogger Oli Barrett set off on a trip to explore FAST. He was astonished by the massive radio telescope and touched by the story of Chinese scientist Nan Rendong who had devoted his whole life to the advancement of science.

Contact: Zeng Wei

Tel：008610-68996566

E-mail：milkandwater@163.com

Fanjingshan, an other-worldly mountain in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province, hosts two Buddhist temples at its peak as one of the most extremely situated monasteries in the world.

Linked by a bridge between each other, the two temples are around 500 years old in Ming Dynasty. Having this splendid cultural heritage, the mountain is one of the newest natural wonders added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.

As the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains, Fanjingshan is considered a sacred mountain in Chinese Buddhism. Its sacredness is beefed up by the view of cotton-looking clouds carpeting the sky right in front of you at the mountain top.

Tourists from all over the world are intrigued to see the jaw-dropping scenery, some of them pilgrims while many are Instagram followers stunned by the photos.

The relative isolation of Fanjingshan has ensured a high degree biodiversity with a number of endemic species, such as the rare Guizhou golden monkey.

Being a fan of wild exploration, the British vlogger Adam set off onto the trip to Fanjingshan Mountain. Frustrated by the snowy weather at the beginning though, Adam made it to the secondary top underneath the peak where the temples are situated. He saw the view of overspreading clouds covered by sunshine, which fulfilled him with the satisfaction of serenity.

Contact: Li Siwei

Tel：008610-68996566

E-mail：lisiwei5125@gmail.com

Guizhou Province in China has long been known for its expansive karst landscape. It’s home to towering limestone peaks, deep gorges and cascading waterfalls, but perhaps its most remarkable feature is the underground kingdom of caves that spans through its mountains and below the surface.

The Shuanghe cave system is the biggest in Suiyang city. It stretches for more than 300 kilometers, making it the largest cave network in Asia. Huge rock structures, deep sinkholes, and other natural structures are the most visited parts in the cave. They’ve been fitted with lights that create spectacular displays of limestone formations.

And amazingly, they have been slowly created over the past several million years. But this brightly

-lit portion of the cave is only a small fraction of the 300-kilometer-long cave system. Explorers and researchers continue to trek into the unknown reaches of this underground world, slowly adding to the ever-growing map of Guizhou’s vast cave network.

Excited to witness firsthand the natural beauty of Guizhou’s karst landscape, Jack from China Matters heads to Suiyang’s Shuanghe cave where he meets up with long-time cave explorer Jean Bottazzi from France. He’s been living in these cave parts for more than 20 years, helping to bring these caves onto a map. But venturing through a cave is no easy task.

Our host Jack goes right into the deep end by roping down cliffs and scaling the cave walls to talk to Jean about his lifetime work of discovering the hidden world in the caves.

Contact: Li Siwei

Tel：008610-68996566

Email：lisiwei5125@gmail.com