Members of the Hani ethnic group in Puchun village in Yunnan province's Honghe county, Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture, sing their polyphonic folk songs, which are listed as national intangible cultural heritage. Wang Kaihao / China Daily

To survive in the rough environment, they gradually built the Hani Rice Terraces, the agricultural landscape in Honghe prefecture. The 1,300-year-old terraces were listed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage register in 2013.

"Hani music has an important function in daily life," Wu says. "People sing to worship ancestors and nature. When I first organized villagers to perform a chorus in front of visitors, many initially refused. They consider the process sacred and secret.

"It is blasphemous to perform seedling-transplanting songs when it is not the season for that farmwork. We need to explore a more diverse repertoire of Hani festivals and rituals."

Similar rescue attempts have been made in nearby Yuanyang county in the same prefecture. Hani Ancient Song (Hani-haba), which is considered an "epic of Hani people", was registered as national intangible cultural heritage in 2006. After the Hani Terraces were recognized by UNESCO, the local government began a project to establish a database of recorded musical scores and scripts. It also plans to teach relevant courses in local primary schools.

Hani-haba is also spreading internationally. Eight community members will perform the traditional music at the Expo 2015 in Milan. However, despite the promising developments, the ongoing viability of the music is still in doubt.