The copper drum and folk song festival kicked off Saturday in Yizhou, an ancient city in south China's Guangxi Province.

More than 2,000 performers from different ethnic groups participated in the performance. They sang folk songs in ethnic costumes, while beating on copper drums.

Beautiful Yizhou city has a long history and a unique culture, including the famous copper drum and legendary singer Liu Sanjie, in popular tale in Guangxi.

The copper drums, a special instrument played by Zhuang and Yao ethnic groups of Guangxi, is no longer produced. As a result, more than 1,400 drums owned by people and about the same number in museums need to be well cared for.

(People’s Daily 10/29/2000)