Villagers sing the grand song of the Dong ethnic group for tourists at the Zhaoxing Dong Village in Liping County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province on March 18, 2025. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)

　　GUIYANG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Yang Xiangni, the founder of a Dong ethnic minority chorus in southwest China's Guizhou Province, never imagined those melodies sung by her ancestors could link to a stunning show in a blockbuster Chinese animation.

　　In a mesmerizing scene in “Ne Zha 2,“ the fifth highest-grossing film globally, a Chinese lotus gradually blooms while a traditional melody swells in the background. The music breathes life into the visuals, filling Dong people, like Yang, with immense pride and love for their musical heritage.

　　The grand song of the Dong ethnic group has echoed through the ages. Revered as a soulful art form, it draws inspiration from the natural flow of life, mimicking bird sounds, the pattering of rains and the gentle rush of rivers.

　　In Guizhou, singing the grand song of the Dong is more than a performance for the Dong people; it also serves as a way for them to express their hopes, dreams, and feelings.

　　After graduating from the Academy of Music of Guizhou University in 2020, Yang worked as an art training teacher for two years before returning to her hometown to promote ethnic minority culture.

　　One year later, Yang established the chorus, finding a way to combine her hobbies of singing Dong songs with the opportunities brought by the Village Super League, a grassroots football carnival in Guizhou. She made cultural inheritance her life-long career and also answered the country's calls to revitalize traditional culture.