On 28 September 2026, the launch event of the “Singing the New Era · Huohuo Chinese” folk music and art charity performance programme, together with the global launch ceremony of the Light of Fire ethnic cultural brand, was held in the second-floor multifunction hall of the news centre at the Media Center of China Media Group (CMG) in Beijing. At the event, the Huohuo Chinese brand officially released its Light of Fire ethnic cultural IP and announced a medium- to long-term plan to stage a total of 100 public-benefit music and art performances in China and overseas during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030). From village stages to the world stage, a “cultural long march” that began in 2012 has taken a new step forward.

A flame kept burning for 14 years

The Huohuo Chinese brand traces its origins to 2012, when Liu Liguo, together with nearly 100 well-known veteran artists from across China, launched a public-benefit folk music and art performance programme. Over the years, the programme has held to the principle that “art comes from the people and serves the people”. It sets no high entry thresholds, stages no commercial talent contests and charges no registration fees, concentrating instead on seeking out, documenting and supporting folk musicians scattered across the countryside.

Over the past 14 years, the project has set up local liaison stations in more than ten provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. It has reached old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority villages, township communities, factory and mining districts, and elderly care and welfare homes, staging more than 100 events of all sizes, including dedicated showcases, regional selections and city performances. Volunteers and arts teams have travelled deep into mountains, grasslands and water towns to make audio and video recordings and oral-history archives of fading local folk songs, suona music, bamboo instrumental music, fishermen’s songs, mouth-harp music, traditional melodies of ethnic minorities and traditional wind-and-percussion music. The result is an archive of folk music material that preserves first-hand resources for future generations.

After a decade of dedicated work, the figures tell the story. The programme has sought out and connected with more than 620 grassroots musicians across the country, and as many as 10,000 folk music and art talents have been recommended to the organising committee. More than 200 have been formally selected for the “Public-Benefit Folk Music and Art Talent Archive” and have received stage opportunities and priority promotion support. They include inheritors of intangible cultural heritage music items at various levels, ethnic minority singers of traditional styles, veteran village band musicians, arts enthusiasts with disabilities and grassroots songwriters. Many had never stood on a major stage in their lives; through this platform they were seen and respected for the first time, and a number of local musical genres and ancient melodies have returned to public view as a result.

As the veteran artists often said during their lifetimes: “Art belongs to the people, and the most moving voices are found among ordinary folk. What we must do is not put on a lively show, but provide lasting protection.”

A 100-show commitment: to the grassroots and to the world

The launch event formally announced the core medium- to long-term plan: during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, 100 public-benefit music and art performances will be staged in China and overseas, advancing step by step through two strands — “Going to the Grassroots · Culture Benefiting the People” and “Towards the World · Mutual Learning Among Civilisations”.

The domestic strand will keep its public-benefit character, taking the stage into communities, villages, old revolutionary base areas and ethnic minority regions. It will focus on discovering traditional folk songs, traditional instrumental music, intangible cultural heritage music and original works by ordinary people, giving farmer singers, folk musicians, grassroots arts enthusiasts and heritage inheritors a platform to perform. It will be accompanied by folk music collection and documentation, public-benefit arts assistance and promotion that integrates local culture and tourism, so that fine traditional arts can thrive and be passed on across rural China, strengthening the popular foundation of cultural confidence.

The overseas strand will use public-benefit performances as a vehicle for orderly international folk art exchanges, telling true and multidimensional stories of China well through accessible folk music rich in Eastern charm. Guided by the idea that each culture treasures its own beauty and appreciates the beauty of others so that beauty is shared by all, it will use music as a bridge to promote people-to-people bonds between China and other countries, carry the voice and warmth of China’s ordinary people to the world, and strengthen the international reach and influence of fine Chinese folk culture.

A series of supporting initiatives was launched at the same time: a plan to build a folk music talent pool through a long-term national call for talent; a Light of Fire cultural symbol system built around brand apparel badges, themed cultural and creative products, a theme music video and a series of documentary short videos; a public-benefit partnership mechanism that broadly unites the arts community, the charity sector and patriotic cultural figures in China and abroad; and thematic guidance encouraging creators to root their work in their home soil and in their times, and to celebrate the motherland, the people and the new era — all to keep this public-benefit project sustainable over the long term.

A small badge and a twin-flame story of Yan and Huang

The Huohuo Chinese · Light of Fire badge presented at the launch distils the brand’s spirit into a tangible symbol. Stacked one above the other, the two characters for fire (火火) form the character yan (炎), tracing back to the lineage of the Yan and Huang Emperors and signifying the shared spiritual bond of all descendants of Yan and Huang, all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. The five characters 火火中国人 (“Huohuo Chinese”) are sculpted in relief in pure gold. At the centre, a dancing figure carved from gem-grade material is finished with 56 facets, representing the 56 ethnic groups united as one family, each illuminating the others. The outer ring of pure gold is set with 29 natural diamonds, symbolising family and national reunion and a world united in heart: the “2” stands for harmony and unity, while the “9”, the supreme yang number, expresses hopes for an enduring enterprise and lasting national fortune.

One flame carries the original aspiration; the other opens a new journey. The twin flames merge and burn on without end, combining the weighty legacy of China’s millennia-old cultural heritage with the vibrant, uplifting energy of the new era, and condensing national lineage, family and national reunion and the unity of the 56 ethnic groups into a small gold emblem.

The cultural long march has only just begun

“Cultural self-awareness is our foundation, cultural confidence is our strength, and taking culture overseas is our responsibility. What we are doing is not a short-lived grand event but a cultural long march. From the countryside to the world, we hope the flame of art hidden among ordinary people will be seen and lit up, and that voices rooted in the people and belonging to the nation will travel beyond China’s borders, so that the world can hear a real and vibrant China,” initiator Liu Liguo said at the launch.

Guests from the arts community jointly called on artists of the new era to stay true to their original aspiration, put down roots at the grassroots and turn more attention to China’s vast communities; to advance the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture by upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground; and to fulfil their cultural mission through concrete public-benefit action.

Taking this event and its global launch in partnership with World Headlines as a new starting point, Huohuo Chinese · Light of Fire will steadily roll out the schedule of 100 public-benefit performances, using music to convey warmth and culture to build strength, and will strive to contribute the strength of folk arts to building China into a country with a strong socialist culture and to realising the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Photos courtesy of the organisers.