Tell a good story

Tongliao is not only known for its many Mongolian beauties, it is also home to a 700-year-old art of storytelling. Wang Kaihao finds out how the locals are trying to preserve this fading cultural heritage.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region's eastern city of Tong - liao is famous nationwide for producing many Mongolian beauties of the Horqin tribe throughout history.

But today, in a ballroom, the attraction is something different. The arena is small and simple, a chair, a sihu (a four-string bowed string instrument also known as khuuchir) and a good voice are all that is needed by performers with cadence and rhyme.