Two song books Mr. Huang, a Taiwan resident, brought from the island.

In the old days, Dongshan residents would gather in the evenings near the seaside, at the village temple or cultural center to sing while doing needlework. The folk art has garnered international attention, and has been broadcast by Japan's NHK network.

One woman who has made an enormous effort to collect and sort the songbooks is Huang Wuying. Ten years ago, Huang, who is now a grandmother more than 80 years old, realized that many original copies were in poor condition, and feared that the songbooks, once common in Dongshan Island, were on the verge of extinction.

She resolved to transcribe the songs she'd committed to memory over the course of more than 50 years. For 10 years, she transcribed more than 150 sections of the songbooks, including Feng Changchun, Wang Chunfeng, Wang Zhaojun, and Han Yanmei. Her work includes more than 2,000 books and 18,000,000 words in all.

Playing them with harmonica

Singapore harmonica player You Hongdao gave performance during his visit to Zhangzhou City, Fujian province.

You Hongdao, a well-known harmonica player, visited Dongshan in early 2006. Listening in a singing performance by elderly ladies in the town of Hong Ling, he began writing down some of the tunes' rhythms, and later broke into an impromptu performance on his harmonica of traditional songs like "Hometown Jasmine."

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