Haicai Tune - Flying Gold and Silver Birds, Folk Song of Yi Ethnic People
By Li Huaixiu and Li Huaifu, Folk Singers of Yi Ethnic People, Yunnan Province

The Haicai Aria is a ballad specific to the Yi ethnic minority groups in Yunnan Province and is mainly popular in the villages of the Lisu people in Shiping County.

The aria is composed of solo, antiphonal and chorus singing. The Haicai Aria is important for the study of Yi history and culture, as well as of the traditional Chinese music system. It is passed orally from generation to generation.

Lyrics of the Flying Gold and Silver Birds:

Fly, Fly, Fly
What kind of birds are flying?
Auspicious silver birds
Where do they alight?
To the silver mountain

Fly, Fly, Fly
What kind of birds are flying?
Wealthy gold birds
Where do they alight?
To the gold mountain of Beijing