8 Hunan Counties Listed as “Chinese Towns of Folk Culture and Art”

The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a list of “Chinese Towns of Folk Culture and Art” for 2018-2020 recently. Hunan has 8 counties (county-level cities and districts) and towns (blocks) on the list.

A total of 175 Chinese counties and towns were listed. Hunan’s 8 candidates are: Changning City in Hengyang; Baicang Town in Shaoyang; Caoping Town, and Zhoujiadian Town, in Changde; Longtanhe Town in Zhangjiajie; Nanxian County in Yiyang; Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County in Huaihua; and, Xichehe Town in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. The featured folk culture and art include: engraving; Baicang stilts; songs and dances; blowing and percussion music; plank dragon lantern; Dihuagu (land flow drum) opera; Miao folk songs; and, Shebari (hand-waving) dance.