Legend has it that in the 15th century, the founder of Tibetan opera Thangtong Gyaibo created Yalong Zhaxi Xoiba Tibetan opera in Changzhug Township of Shannan City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region when he was raising funds to build bridges for local people.
Since then, this traditional Tibetan opera form has been passed down for more than 600 years. And the place, Zhaxi Qoiden, where it was born, has been honored as "the village of Tibetan opera."
Tibetan opera combines talking, singing, acting, dancing, and literature. It is regarded as a "living fossil" of Tibetan culture and was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.
Yalong Zhaxi Xoiba Tibetan opera was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.
It usually serves as an opening in traditional Tibetan opera performances.
The Zhaxi Qoiden community now has 512 residents from 129 households. In 2020, 64 households opened family hotels and received 20,000 tourists every year.
Tourism and Tibetan opera have changed local people's lives. Now, the annual per capita net income of the community reached 28,000 yuan (4,322 U.S. dollars).
