I was tired of city life, and in 2019, I left the city and settled in a remote village in Dali, home to one of China’s ethnic minority groups—the Bai people. In Dali, the Bai live with simplicity and warmth, and singing and dancing are just part of everyday life—a way to share feelings and stories.

I was born in 1995 in Shenzhen, a modern immigrant city with little history. I grew up surrounded by Western classical music—my family and schools placed a lot of value on it. For a long time, I believed that “real music” only happened in concert halls. I chased the dream of becoming a classical violinist, and eventually got into the top music conservatory in China as the number one student. I toured, I performed… but deep down, something felt off. I kept asking myself: Who am I really? What am I truly looking for?

Then came a trip that changed everything. Trying to escape the noise of the city, I ended up in a Bai village in Yunnan. One rainy evening, I was standing under the eaves of an old house when I heard someone playing music—soft, broken notes from a handmade instrument. An old man saw me, patted the stone bench beside him, and invited me to sit and sing with him while he played. We had never met, but we finished a song together like old friends. In the days that followed, I joined a gathering where the whole village sang by the fire after a ritual. For the first time, I felt music as something raw and shared, not staged. That experience broke down my assumptions and opened up a whole new world.

I ended up staying in that village. During a festival in 2023, I saw three straight days of singing and dancing—but mostly from the older generation. The younger ones didn’t know the songs anymore. Many were more into trending TikTok hits than their own cultural roots. That hit me hard. I wanted to find a bridge. So I built a café that doubled as a music space where villagers could play, jam, and livestream. It unexpectedly gained 700,000 followers. But even with all that exposure, I noticed something: people liked the “vibe,” but didn’t really connect with the music itself. It made me realize that just going viral doesn’t mean the music is understood or truly felt.

So in 2024, I brought this question to Berklee College of Music, where I’m studying Music Performance & Production. I started digging into the structure of Bai music and reimagining it through my own performance style—with help from amazing mentors like violinist Federico Nathan. I developed a way to sing and play violin at the same time, transforming old folk stories into new compositions. It’s not just a remix—it’s about honoring the roots while giving the music new life through modern tools and honest emotion.

Now, I’m working to expand this approach across other minority cultures. My goal is to build a global network where forgotten sounds can find new audiences—and where cultural heritage is not just preserved, but lived, shared, and felt again.

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▲  Founded Dali Nature Music Summer Camp (Curriculum Designer)

▲ Featured in Hello Dali tourism promo film (Shanghai premiere)

▲  Honored with Douyin "Dali Creator Award"
2022

▲ Achieved 700K followers in 60 days through livestream campaigns in TiKTOK.

• Music Production: Violin performance / Vocal techniques / Logic Pro & Pro Tools

• Cultural Tech: ICH Digital Archiving / Viral content strategy 

• Languages: Chinese (Native), English

TIKTOK: [https://v.douyin.com/VcBdXAZovZI/]

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Performance Reel: [https://youtu.be/U3guTmWTy6w?si=aD3G_KG5UiDgU689]