Preserving the Hezhe voices

The art of Yimakan is seeing a resurgence as practitioners work to safeguard a unique oral tradition that weaves together storytelling, myth and identity, Chen Nan reports.

In northeastern China, where the Heilong and Songhua rivers converge, lies Tongjiang, the birthplace and cultural heartland of the Hezhe, one of the smallest ethnic groups in the country with a population of just over 5,000.

Tongjiang, a small yet historically significant city, is home to nearly one-third of the Hezhe population, with 1,643 Hezhe people residing there, according to the Tongjiang government website.

For centuries, this region has been a sanctuary for the preservation, accumulation and transmission of Hezhe culture.