Muqam is not just any music – it's been called the "Mother of Uygur music," and as CGTN Digital's Nadim Diab discovers, it's also the soul of the Uygur people.

He travels to Shache, the birthplace of the "Twelve Muqam" in Xinjiang, to visit the local heritage center, speak with inheritors and, unexpectedly, sing with them. Joining the chorus of powerful voices in the room, he learns melodies passed down from mouth to ear for centuries and watches a tradition, once at risk of disappearing, come to life before his eyes.