Batu is a musician and restaurateur, Berekbai is a herder grazing sheep and cattle on the grasslands, and Erdenbat performs music for tourists at a scenic spot.

Despite their different daily lives, music is the common thread that connects them all as members of Xiaga Band, based in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Xiaga, meaning "ankle bone" in Mongolian, symbolizes connection, explains 35-year-old Batu, the head of the band.

"The name Xiaga also illustrates my journey from youth to maturity, sustains the musical dreams of two generations, and represents the inheritance of Mongolian music over generations," he said.

A RENDEZVOUS WITH MONGOLIAN MUSIC

Born in 1989 in the city of Bole in Xinjiang's Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bortala, Batu grew up in a family of factory workers. His father was a mechanic, and his mother was a carpet weaver.

Since his childhood, music has become an integral part of Batu's life. When he was a kid, his mother would sing traditional Mongolian folk songs before bedtime to coax him to sleep.

At age 11, Batu received an electronic organ from his mother, a gift costing around 2,000 yuan (about 280 U.S. dollars), which was worth several months of the family's income. She also arranged for a teacher to nurture his musical talents.

At 13, Batu was admitted to a technical secondary school in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, some 2,800 km away from Bole, to study music, marking the start of his music career.

During those years, he learned to play the guitar and horse-head fiddle and mastered Khoomei, a Mongolian art of singing that produces a rich harmony of vocal elements, including a continuous bass tone generated in the throat.

Whenever he returned home during vacations, Batu would play his electronic organ to perform the music pieces he had learned for his parents.

In 2006, influenced by both domestic and foreign rock bands, Batu and his childhood friends formed a band. They primarily performed Mongolian rock songs and were invited to play at weddings, bars and street stalls, earning about 200 yuan per show.

In 2009, Batu took the national college entrance exam, known as gaokao, but did not gain admission to his dream school, Xinjiang Arts University. "At that time, I really didn't want to stay in Xinjiang anymore. I wanted to see the bigger world," he said, recalling how he boarded a train to Beijing at 20.

Life in the Chinese capital was bittersweet for Batu. He worked as a bricklayer and deliveryman, among other odd jobs, to support himself and buy music equipment.

Batu said that despite the hardships, his time in Beijing made his music more grounded. "You need to experience life to truly understand its essence and its ups and downs."

INHERITING MONGOLIAN MUSIC

During his four years in Beijing, Batu's interests shifted from rock and heavy metal to Mongolian music. He began to realize that his true passion was to preserve and promote the Mongolian music of his hometown.

Batu said that most Mongolian songs center on themes such as grasslands, mountains, horses and expressing gratitude to parents. "I aim not only to preserve Mongolian music but also to share it with a broader audience," he added.

Driven by his desire, he returned to Bole in 2013 and joined the song and dance troupe of Bortala a year later. Whenever the troupe needed to perform, he would lead colleagues from the instrumental and vocal groups in rehearsals, striving to bring Mongolian music to more people.

In 2020, he formed the Xiaga Band with five other members. They adapt Mongolian folk songs and perform with instruments like the horse-head fiddle, jaw harp and three-stringed instrument, aiming to make ethnic music more appealing to the general public.

Batu remembers that when they performed in Kanas, a well-known scenic area in Xinjiang, in 2023, the audience included tourists from the United States, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. "They told us they had never heard the sound of Khoomei or the horse-head fiddle before and were deeply moved," he said.

A spontaneous livestream unexpectedly thrust the band into the spotlight. In 2022, when a scheduled event was canceled, the band decided to go live for fun. To their surprise, up to 3,000 viewers tuned in at the same time.

However, the sudden fame did not push the band toward becoming internet celebrities, Batu said. "The essence of Mongolian folk music lies in the atmosphere of live performances. I'd rather connect with my audience directly than chase online fame."

To better inherit Mongolian music, Batu left the song and dance troupe to work full-time with the Xiaga Band. He also sought guidance from veteran artists, including Jangu, a renowned inheritor of Mongolian short-tune music, an intangible cultural heritage.

"Jangu told me that the greatest charm of Mongolian music lies in its rhythm and tempo. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, you can still feel it. But if you want to perform and pass it down well, you must understand the stories behind it," Batu said.

Over the years, he has realized that only by gaining acceptance and appreciation from young people can Mongolian music be passed down, and he has been working on achieving this goal.

"We are producing original songs and incorporating elements such as drums, guitars and bass into our music creation so that more people can experience the charm of Mongolian music," he said. Enditem

(Yuan Ziming, Kong Weijia, Wang Zixian and Luo Ying also contributed to the story.)