Yang Yuni, born post 1995, is an ethnic Hani woman from Honghe, a county in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in southwest China's Yunnan Province. She is a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body. She has long dedicated herself to the inheritance of a folk dance, known as Lezuo dance.
During this year's two sessions, Yang focused her attention on the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, and especially on its in-depth integration with cultural tourism. "On the one hand, efforts should be made to deepen the integration of intangible cultural heritage with cultural tourism, study tours, sports and rural revitalization. By developing more distinctive sightseeing routes, such as the terrace culture experience tour in my hometown, which combine ethnic culture with the improvement of people's physical and mental health, we can advance cultural preservation, increase local incomes, and improve public health, thereby contributing to all-round rural revitalization," Yang explains.
"On the other hand," she continues, "it is essential to further the digitalization of intangible cultural heritage. Short videos and immersive-touring experiences are particularly preferred by young people. We can adopt those measures to better promote our ethnic culture, and to tell well the vivid stories about Hani rice terraces. Meanwhile, we need to improve support policies, to ensure both young and old inheritors and protectors participate actively in the healthy development of intangible cultural heritage."
In 2025, Yang organized public-welfare-dance programs, to introduce folk dances in schools. She volunteered to teach Lezuo dance to 2,000-plus primary school students. She also worked with more than 100 young dancers, from various ethnic groups, to form a dance troupe, so the dancers could explore trendy expressions of folk dances from Yunnan. She also participated in cultural exchanges, such as performing dances and introducing embroidering skills in Türkiye and Vietnam.
"We must protect the root of our traditional culture. At the same time, we must develop in accordance with the times. By utilizing digital techniques, we can revive intangible cultural heritage, and we can promote folk dance and cultural heritage of our hometown with trendy expressions, creating (spiritual) 'wealth' in the countryside," Yang tells Women of China.
Photos from Interviewee
(Source: Women of China)
Editor: Ye Shan
