Anthems weave together a collective soul

As the sun casts a golden hue across the plains of a township in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region weeks before Chinese New Year, the sound of villagers singing and dancing fills the air during a local cultural festival, as seen on a short video posted across social media platforms.

These are not songs passed down through generations but new anthems written by the villagers, capturing their life stories and rural customs.

The woman who posted the videos of this movement is Lyu Li, who is committed to ensuring that her fellow villagers in Mukainur township, Ordos, have a voice and can express their spiritual needs by creating village anthems.

Lyu, head of the cultural center in the township, grew up in a farming family with a deep love for singing. She dreamed of becoming a host since she was young.

Life took her down a path rooted in the soil of her hometown. Between 2021 and 2022, she led the residents of 14 villages in composing 14 unique anthems, weaving together a tapestry of the township's collective soul.

However, the journey to this moment has been far from easy.

"Whenever I think of village songs, I think of my mother," Lyu said.

Her mother, denied the chance to attend school, found her own stage among the hills, singing mountain songs with other girls as they tended sheep or at special occasions. Those melodies became a source of joy and expression, moments when her mother felt free.