China Expat is a cultural and literary forum for expatriates interested in China and has been published by Asia Briefing Ltd since 2001. The sites resident China culture writers have included such expatriate luminaries as 
An introduction to: URNA
Now here’s a find ! Welcome to Urna – an Inner Mongolian nomad, born in Hohhot, educated in Shanghai, singing songs in traditional Mongolian and backed by crack German world music musicians. Essentially a Mongolian version of Enya, her CDs are sought after in Europe but she is little known here in China – or for that matter in Mongolia, where she performed for the first time last year. Let’s back track to a little bit of history – when Mongolia (the country) was occupied by the Soviets (up until the peaceful revolution in 1992), the entire country was taught cyrillic script and it was forbidden to either use traditional Mongolian language or write it. However, in Inner Mongolia, the Chinese Province, although Chinese was taught as the primary language, traditional Mongolian script was not illegal. Hence the bizarre fact that in some ways, Chinese Inner Mongolians are more traditional than their modern Mongolian counterparts in the independent country. And Urna, being raised in Inner Mongolia, sings in the traditional language of the Mongols, and not in Russian or Chinese.
What songs ! Backed by a modern band, allowing the natural beauty of her voice to come out, and augmented also by traditional Chinese instruments such as sheng (bamboo flute), zither and the european cello, Urna’s songs are about life as a nomad, the freedom of the steppes, and in particular the region of Ordos where she is originally from. So songs about horses and love, flowers and the sky, the grass and birds are very much in evidence here – a homage indeed to the beauty of nature, some of which date back aeons. But no namby pamby new age nonsense this. Urna plucks the soul and spirit of the Inner Mongolian steppes and desert out of the land and revises it, creating a beauty all its own.
Two CD’s – “Amilal” (Life) and “Hodood” (In The Steppe) have been released on Taiwan’s treesmusic label, and are an excellent addition to any world music collection – and to hear her live – keep in touch with Mongoliaexpat.com who are arranging concerts for her.
Related posts:
- Music: An introduction to URNA
- Music Review: Sharizhad
- TREKKING AROUND MONGOLIA
- Interview with a Uyghur Musician: Bahtiyar Aziz
- Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble, “When Strangers Meet”
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