‘Bai Choi’ singing (a popular folklore style of singing in the central and south central regions of Viet Nam), has been added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The Prime Minister has authorised the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to prepare application documents proposing the traditional singing Bai Choi to be declared a piece of World Intangible Cultural Heritage .
An international workshop on Viet Nam’s Bai choi singing and similar arts in the world opened in Quy Nhon city, the central province of Binh Dinh on January 13, attracting the participation of more than 100 domestic and foreign researchers and artists.
The Phu Yen provincial People's Committee held a ceremony on November 21 to receive the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s certificate recognising Bai Choi (singing while playing cards) singing as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The World Heritage site and ancient town of Hoi An has been implementing a number of measures to preserve bai choi singing in an effort to promote the heritage site’s cultural value.
International and domestic researchers and artists of folk music presented suggestions about how to preserve and promote Bai choi singing at a workshop on October 29 in central Quang Nam province.
Musicians, researchers, managers and performers of Bai Choi – a folk singing popular in Central Viet Nam, have worked together on means and ways to preserve and enrich the values of the genre.
Bai choi singing in the central provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Quang Nam was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in late August, a move expected to facilitate the application for recognition of the folk singing as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2016.