Come Gather Round, People

One thing the locals love to get up to is singing folksongs. Liuzhou is famous (allegedly) for its folk song culture and it is certainly possible to come across groups of people singing in the local parks and by the riverside.
The picture to the left depicts Liu San Jie (Third Sister Liu) who is a legendary figure who allegedly came from LIuzhou (although other towns claim the same). Her story was filmed back in 1960 and was incredibly popular.
According to the legend, she was of the Zhuang nationality (as are many people here) and was born sometime in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). She was an excellent singer of the local folk songs and was, of course, very beautiful.
She supposedly fell in love with a handsome man who was also an excellent folksinger and they vowed never to separate. Local bad guy decided he was going to have her and she was cornered by him and his gang. Unable to escape the couple jumped into the river and drowned.
The end.
The locals often meet up and sing songs from her repertoire (or from the movie) as well as other Zhuang songs.
What I haven't mentioned is that the local minorities are into what is known as "atonal singing", which I tend to call "out of tune" singing! It can be a bit difficult for the western ear, though some is beautiful.
Here, courtesy of the local library, is a very short MP3 sample of local Folk Music recorded in a Liuzhou Park. Enjoy.

tags: liuzhou  china  zhuang  atonal  liu san jie  folk music  folk songs  minority  

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