China's 55 ethnic minority groups, which account for a mere 8.5 percent of the country's population, are a rich source of cultural diversity. In recent years, people in a highland in southwestern China have held annual music festivals to celebrate and preserve their culture.

The Yak Music Festival, which is in its third year, has established its home in Hongyuan county, 3,600 meters above sea level in the northern part of Sichuan province. Here, the vast expanse of grassland provides a serene backdrop to the week-long event, which attracts tens of thousands audiences every year.

Hongyuan is inhabited mostly by ethnic minorities, principally Tibetan and Qiang people. The nearby Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu, is known as a cultural melting pot with a rich and diverse ethnic mix. Many of the artists participating at Yak are from Chengdu.

Among them was Jihu, a member of the Yi ethnic group. As an independent artist, Jihu considers his music to be a blend of the East and the West. He credits Michael Jackson, Usher and other western musicians as the core influences on his compositions. This year's event was his second appearance, which he described as "a platform for folk musicians to showcase their talent."

Across town, another artist Gongbo Sangzhou, performed at the Barley Performance Center, which is actually a Chengdu bar.  As a Tibetan from Hongyuan county, and a player of the traditional music instrument Dramyin, Gongbo is dedicated to promoting the music of the autonomous region in its purest form. "It's possible to experiment with the musical arrangement," he said, "But the Tibetan melody is the core of it all and it shouldn't be changed." 

Jihu and Gongbo Sangzhou have very different musical styles, yet both share a passion for promoting ethnic music. 

However, the festival isn't only about ethnic music. Mainstream musicians also participated, with other performances featured, including daring maneuvers executed by horse-riders. Below the stages were rows of food tents, ensuring that the Yak Music Festival was not just the cultural, but also the social highlight of the year locally.

The organizer of the festival, Wang Kaixin, said that despite it's growing popularity, ethnic musicians faced great challenges, partly because of the lack of investment in the folk music sector. As he put it, "From creating music to promotion and sales, the business model isn't mature yet. This is the biggest problem." Thus, he saw events such as Yak as a bridge. By bringing mainstream artists to the event, he hopes to broaden its appeal and give more people access to the music.

The festival concluded with an awards ceremony. Jihu won a trophy for his self-penned song, "Eldest Son," an emotional documentary of his relationship with his father. The song adopted his usual mix of the East and the West, pairing a western-style melody with a lyric that defines his Yi identity.

As for Gongbo Sangzhou, although he wasn't a big winner of the ceremony, his resolve to promote Tibetan music culture remained as strong as ever. "I want to show people the purest form of folk music and I want to spread it widely," he said, "I feel it's an honor to be the one to pass down our musical traditions."

(Top Photo: Artistes perform before an eager audience at the Yak Music Festival in Hongyuan county, Sichuan province this year. /CGTN Photo)