On July 6, Moscow time, the Ninth World Choir Games kicked off at the Ice Dome Bolshoy in Russia’s Sochi. A total of 104 Chinese choirs joined the competition, including four from Yunnan. Among them, the Poya Geshu Choir from Funing County in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is Yunnan’s first ethnic choir to join the World Choir Games.  

Poya Geshu is like a wonderful flower in the cultural garden of the Zhuang nationality. Geshu, or “songbook”, is actually a piece of cloth discovered in Poya Village of Boai Town in Wenshan Prefecture. The book has 81 different patterns, each one representing a song. The singers often take handkerchiefs from their pockets in case they forget the words when singing. By glancing at the handkerchief, they could continue singing uninterrupted.