Music of Yunnan

There are 24 folk music items of Yunnan that are protected through the United Nations intangible cultural heritage (ICH) list.

The Nakhi of Lijiang play a type of song and dance suite called baisha xiyue, which was supposedly brought by Kublai Khan in AD 1253.

Nakhi dongjing is an ancient type of music related to southern Chinese forms, and is popular today.

In addition to donjing and baisha xiyue, a style called huangjing yinyue also has an ancient history in the area, but is no longer known.

There are traditional dongjing operas, such as Song of the Water Dragon, Waves Washing the Sands and The Sheep on the Hill.