Chasing Muqam – Episode 5: A Tale of Two Towns

Editor's note: Chasing Muqam is a CGTN Digital documentary series that explores the legacy of Muqam, a traditional Uygur art form that blends song, music and dance. Nadim Diab travels across Xinjiang to meet the people carrying this tradition forward – listening, learning, and ultimately attempting to capture the soul of Muqam in a performance.

CGTN's Nadim Diab continues his journey in Shache, a small town in southern Xinjiang that gave the world the Twelve Muqam. There, he gets a front-row seat to the rehearsals of local artists.

The musicians are mostly farmers, bound together by a deep love for folk music and a quiet mission to keep it alive. Some are well into their seventies, yet they sing and dance with tireless devotion, eager to pass their knowledge to anyone willing to learn. They aren't after applause or fame. For them, music is a living language – one that carries Uyghur identity and pride.

A two-hour drive away, the story takes on a new rhythm. In Makit County, Muqam has absorbed the spirit of the desert. Here, Nadim encounters Dolan Muqam in its rawest form. Wild and unrestrained, the music rises with powerful vocals that echo across the open landscape. It's fierce and deeply moving, offering a strikingly different, yet equally mesmerizing expression of this ancient art.