Dadawa on song for UN

By Chen Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-02 11:16

Chinese singer Zhu Zheqin (widely known as Dadawa) has been picked as the National Goodwill Ambassador by the UNDP for the two-year goodwill action project "Show The World", which aims to preserve the culture of ethnic minorities, while showcasing their music and handicrafts.

Sponsored by Bank of China, Dadawa and her team will work with government agencies to protect and revitalize the cultural wealth of minorities.

Since March, Dadawa and her team have visited minority regions in Southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, to collect more than 300 folk songs.

They will conduct further field visits in the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions, and Qinghai, to compile traditional ethnic music for a CD and put on promotional events.

"Ethnic music has been the source of Dadawa's inspiration in art. She has devoted her life to promoting the value of cultural diversity and improving the livelihoods of minorities, with her beautiful songs mirroring the souls of minorities from every corner of China," says United Nations coordinator Khalid Malik.

In response, Dadawa says she will continue to preserve China's ethnic cultures.

"During my journeys over the past dozen years, magnificent natural sceneries and the profound cultures of minority regions have made an enormous impact on my music and life," Dadawa says.

Dadawa produced the album Sister Drum in 1995, which was an international success, while the albums Yellow Children (1992), Voices From The Sky (1997), and particularly Seven Days (2006), were also well received for their mix of traditional Chinese music with a contemporary sound.