Well-preserved stone houses in Xinglongzhuang village in Zaozhuang city of East China's Shandong province are seen on Jan 31, 2011. The village was listed in the first batch of villages collected in China's traditional villages catalog in 2012. So far, three batches of 2,555 villages in total have been collected in China's traditional village catalog. [Photo by Li Zongxian/Asianewsphoto]

Compared with architecture and historical sites, intangible cultural heritageis more vulnerable during urbanization, said Hu Xiaoyu, a master in intangible cultural heritage at Sun Yat-sen University, who now works with a Guangzhou-based cultural company.

"Driven by economic benefits, the rural communities are posed with very serious brain drain, and suffer a talent loss in folk art much more than in the city." He said.

"When it comes to people, if the skill they inherited was considered socially-inferior in the past, or, economically uncompetitive in the present, the inheritors usually lack the motivation to pass it on," he added. "After all, ordinary people are most concerned with whether they can put food on the table every day."

The protection of intangible cultural heritage has made great progress since China joined UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004.

In 2011, intangible cultural heritage finally left legal limbo as the Law of the People's Republic of China on Intangible Cultural Heritage came into effect. Under the law, inheritors who fail to perform their succession obligations without legitimate reason can be removed from the list.

Even though, the protection of intangible cultural heritage in rural areas will continue to face challenges, globalization, industrialization and urbanization will continue to devour the agrarian cultures where the beliefs, humanity, culture and traditions originate.