Ainiwaer Abuduxukuer

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government is stepping up its efforts to preserve its ethnic culture. Beginning next year, it will spend at least 5 million yuan annually on cultural protection.

Known for its ancient culture, Xinjiang has spent 8.84 million in total over the last five years on cultural protection. UNESCO selected muqam, a type of Uygur music that is regarded as one of the most complex musical forms, combining sung poetry and dance rhythms, in late 2005 as an oral and intangible heritage of humanity. The Manas epic, oral traditions that celebrate the life and progeny of the Kirgiz ethnic minority in Xinjiang, was listed as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage last October.

Next year, Xinjiang will host an international dance festival in Urumqi in August. The first one, in June 2008, included dance groups from 12 countries.