Click to enjoy some of the most classic pieces of Xintianyou:  Lanhuahua (Blue Flower)  Drops of Tears  The Theme Song for the film "Red Sorghum"  Leaving from the West Pass  Ganshengling

"Xintianyou," literally "rambling in the sky," is a major folk tune of Northern Shaanxi Province and its bordering regions in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province.

China's northwestern Shaanxi Province is a treasure trove that incorporates some of the most flavorful and renowned folk songs in the country -- all of them crystallizing the spirit, thoughts and emotions of its people -- to represent their everyday lives in the most direct and artistic way. There are more than 20 types of folk songs, including "Xintianyou" ("Rambling in the Sky"), "Xiaodiao" ("Folk Ditty"), "Jiuge" ("Drinking Songs") and "Yulin Xiaoqu" ("Popular Tune in Yulin ") in the region, where the most famous song,"Xintianyou," best displays the area's local flavors and characteristics.

For centuries, these folk songs have echoed throughout the vast Loess Plateau -- a landscape that instills both magnificence and sadness. The songs have also greatly influenced the lives and customs of the people living on the Loess Plateau, having contributed significantly to the formation of a distinctive Plateau culture characterized by its desolation and solemnity. When singing Xintianyou, people of Northern Shaanxi Province blare out the words from the bottom of their hearts to express their compassion and love of life.

Crisscross gullies are found everywhere on the Loess Plateau, which caused a great obstacle for transport. Thus, a group of people who transported goods using mules and donkeys had emerged. These porters, who always ventured deep into the mountains and ravines, would sing songs during their long journeys, the majority of which were Xintianyou. The porters, who were not only disseminators but also creators of the art form, usually improvised on the original songs to create new ones. As a special genre of folk songs boasting its own origin and style, Xintianyou belongs to all of the people of the Loess Plateau -- whether they are herding the flocks, cultivating the land, or celebrating a festival -- they can always be heard humming snippets of these songs.

Most Xintianyou songs are characterized by a very free and bold rhythm, becoming a very soul-stirring art form. This has a lot to do with the geological conditions of the area. Due to the widely distributed gullies and ravines, local people used to talk loudly to each other from a distance. Intonations were, therefore, prolonged and a free and sparse rhythm gradually took shape. This custom has more or less influenced Xintianyou. To some extent, the Xintianyou arias demonstrate the natural landscape, social scenery and spiritual world of the Northern Shaanxi people.