Lijiang is home to the Naxi people, and one of the most unexpected things about the town is its music. Dongjing music is a form of ritual and chamber music with roots in the religious and court traditions of central China, and it survived in the Lijiang valley in a form that has largely disappeared elsewhere. It is played by the Naxi on a set of instruments that includes bowed strings, plucked lutes, flutes, percussion and ancient forms of zither.
What the music sounds like
Dongjing pieces are slow, long and meditative, with sections that unfold over many minutes and a texture built from several melodic lines moving at once rather than a single tune with accompaniment. The instruments are largely traditional, and some - such as the curved-neck stringed instruments and the older plucked lutes - are types that have otherwise fallen out of use. The singing, when it appears, is in an archaic style, and the whole effect is solemn and rather beautiful, closer to early music in Europe than to Chinese folk song.
The orchestras
The best-known group in Lijiang was formed in the 1980s by a local scholar who brought together elderly musicians who still remembered the repertoire, and it has since performed internationally. Several ensembles now play regular evening concerts in the old town, in halls with wooden benches and no amplification. The musicians are mostly old men, some of them well into their eighties, and part of what you are watching is the last generation to have learned the music as a living tradition rather than as a revival.
Attending a concert
Concerts are usually in the evening and last around an hour and a half. Tickets are inexpensive and can be bought at the door or through guesthouses, though the best-known group sells out in high season, so book a day ahead. The halls are small and informal, and the audience is a mix of foreign visitors and Chinese tourists. A short explanation of the instruments is usually given before the performance, sometimes in English.
Getting there and what else
Performances take place in and around Lijiang's old town, which is small enough to cross on foot. Because the old town itself is crowded and commercial, the concert is a good counterweight - a reminder that the Naxi have a literary, musical and religious culture of their own alongside the shops. Combine it with a visit to the Dongba museum or the Baisha murals for a fuller picture of Naxi culture.
