Folk musicians tell vivid stories in their own words

For the past 15 years, Zhang has spent several months every year traveling around various villages across Northwest China, living and talking with the locals, visiting folk musicians and getting inspiration from some 30 traditional musical styles like hua'er and the Qinqiang Opera, among many others.

"Folk music is the most inclusive genre and always keeps up with the times. … The music can not only be heard, but can also be smelled and touched," Zhang says.

It makes people experience his hometown, from the weather, the natural environment and the smell of a bowl of noodles, to the sound of a mother calling her children home for dinner or the texture of a grandmother's calloused hands that can be felt when she holds the hand of a young relative as they chat, he adds.

Zhang has recorded and learned music from folk musicians he met while traveling, and borrows it for his own music, marking out their names and stories in his audiovisual creations, as a means to preserve endangered folk music styles.

Performers at the lawn concert on Monday also included the four winners of a singing competition, The Voice of My Hometown, held by short-video platform Kuaishou that highlighted singing in regional dialects. They all came from different parts of China.