Nanyin takes to big stage at BRICS Summit

Cai Yayi and her husband Chen Silai perform at a promotional event for Nanyin, a traditional music genre, in Quanzhou, Fujian province, last year. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Cai Yayi doesn't like publicly performing her beloved music. Rather, Cai said, "I play with it and have fun with it".

"It shouldn't be deliberately shown on stage," said Cai, 37.

Instead, Cai has held her nonprofit salon on Nanyin, an ancient music genre from East China's Fujian province, every week since 2014 in Xiamen. Cai, who learned about Nanyin as a child from her mother, said it also represents an emotional attachment to her homeland.

Nanyin, which translates as "the music in the south", was listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009 and remains the only entry from Xiamen on the list. Generally considered to date to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) or earlier, Nanyin was first brought to Xiamen by migrants from Central China.