Music leads the way part three: Yili

cctv.com 09-15-2004 10:08

Welcome to travelogue. In this turn, Yanling and us are continuing our musical travelogue guided by this legendary musician Wang Luobin. But this section of the note is going to take a higher-keyed swing - we are in the highest altitude in xinjiang, yi li Kazak region. Wang once acclaimed the Silk Road is not only opened by caravan but also accompanied by the folk music all along the way. So follow our journey and raise your volume!

Among these mountains and meadows that gave birth to Xinjiang folk music, Wang Luobin wondered for decades and found his own far-flung home, where the living and loving inspired the music that tells it just like it is.

Kazak folk music seems to have found inspiration from their living-on-horseback lifestyle. Cheerful tones and bouncy "clop-alike" beat of Mayila, a typical kazak folk song became Mr. Wang's favorite and he made the girl, Mayila a household name in entire China.

The idea of hitting on the road, gearing towards no-man's land has to be most modern spiritual nomad's wildest dream. There is no better place to do that in china other than Xinjiang, Yili to be exact.

Azure, mountain and grassland, ever shifting sceneries and occasional accidental encounters leaves little risk for road hypnosis.

In my determination to follow Mr. Wang's footstep and make this trip both scenic and musical, to feast on both the eyes and ears, I mapped out my 1000 miles road trip in Yili only according to one musical compass鈥擬ayila.