A song for the grasslands

The Ulan Muqir of Zhenglan Banner is one of the earliest founded Ulan Muqir, which was established on Sept 25, 1957.

With a history of more than 60 years, the troupe had about six members when it was founded and now it has about 30 members with an average age of 36.

At 40 years of age, Bukh joined in the Ulan Muqir of Zhenglan Banner in 2000 as a dancer, and also sings and plays the morin khuur.

"When I was a child, we didn't have much contemporary entertainment like TV or cinema. We rode horses on the grassland and sang. The shows brought by Ulan Muqir troupes were our favorites," Bukh says.

As a member of the Ulan Muqir troupe, he tours across the Inner Mongolia autonomous region every year despite arduous road trips.

During the Spring Festival in February, the Ulan Muqir of Zhenglan Banner gave 10 performances on tour, performing a mixture of patriotic songs and traditional Mongolian folk songs.

"Performances of the Ulan Muqir troupes are usually held outdoors and open to audiences ranging from hundreds of people to a dozen. We don't have a formal stage. The audience just sits on the grass. Usually, the performances became a big party with local people joining in," says Bukh, adding that they also help herders do other tasks, such as milking cows, sheep shearing and sometimes offer musical training to children. "The sizes of the Ulan Muqir troupes are different but our goal is the same, to bring entertainment to the herders living in remote areas."