Angelia Yuan, a mainland student of Professional Accountancy, came from Guizhou. However, she had never visited the remote areas of the province where the ethnic minorities live before her internship at Guizhou Institution for Indigenous Culture Development.

The institution is committed to the conservation of indigenous cultures. For instance, it helped the inhabitants to repair a broken stage so the villagers could perform Dong ethnic songs and drama. It also assisted in promoting the villagers’ embroidery by packaging it as saleable commodity. Staff members of the institution visited the villages regularly. Angelia and other two team members joined them on several visits. For the rest of the time, they helped to translate overseas funding applications.

Once, they visited Queniao Village which took them on a six-hour ride from Guiyang. Angelia said the people there lived a simple and happy life even though they were not wealthy in terms of material possessions. ‘There is no shop in the village but people are self-sufficient. They farm in the early morning, eat their self-packed lunches and come back home in the evening.’ She found that this was the life she desired.

Angelia also learnt the importance passing on one’s culture. After youth and middle-agers leave the village to work or study, only the elderly and the young children remain. It is difficult to pass on songs orally, so a systematic way of recording scripts, lyrics, and scores was required. This was one of the institution’s projects.