On 16 August 2024, Xinxing Oroqen Ethnic Township in Xunke held its 31st Gurun Muta festival. Residents welcomed guests with a traditional song before the programme moved between a museum visit, games and an evening performance. The festival belongs to a wider Oroqen cultural tradition recognized in China's national intangible-heritage list, while this particular programme took place in a contemporary township.
From the journal
Gurun Muta: An Oroqen Festival in Xunke
At Xinxing Oroqen Ethnic Township in Xunke, Gurun Muta has developed into a recurring public festival that brings together heritage performance, sports and community gathering. Its present form connects cultural transmission with contemporary village life.
In the same city · Heihe ↗A festival rooted in Oroqen tradition
Sports, welcome and performance
In the square, visitors and residents took part in bu-lu throwing games, tug-of-war and ring toss. The evening brought songs, dance, a comedy sketch and mouth-harp music. After dark, people joined hands around a fire. The changing forms of participation gave the day its rhythm: looking at an exhibition, testing physical skill, listening to performers and dancing together.
Skills carried beyond the festival
Xunke's cultural work also extends beyond the annual gathering. In 2023 the county recognized four further Oroqen traditions in its local heritage list: Zandaren singing, traditional dance, paper cutting and hunting-knife making. Naming both performance and material skills gives the festival a wider setting among the people who continue to practice and teach local culture.