In a quiet alley of Lijiang ancient town in Yunnan province, the air once filled with the lively calls of street vendors selling rice noodles now carries the gentle rhythmic melodies of traditional and contemporary music.
The melodies are from a music club called Wayfarers. In October 2025, He Dehua, 51, and his wife refurbished their old family house and transformed it into a music club, where they share personal stories with travelers and long-lost friends.
The ground floor, adorned with an old carved door panel and casual graffiti, radiates lived-in warmth. Up a narrow staircase, the second floor opens into a dedicated world of sound: speakers, headphones, and tablets line wooden tables by the windows, where visitors sway gently to the music.
The name Wayfarers comes from a CD He had coproduced, inspired by childhood memories of watching elders of the family leaving their hometown to seek livelihoods elsewhere. "We are all wayfarers in our own lives, but we must not forget to search for the truth of our true selves," He says.
A career musician for about three decades, He began learning the guitar in Beijing in 1997. Now back in his hometown, he hopes to use the medium of sound to present the true "voice and countenance" of the ancient town, while reviving a slower, more observant pace of travel he feels has faded.
He set out to collect voices and sounds in 2011, and has amassed more than 200 hours of recordings. These include some intangible cultural heritage performances, everyday sounds, and melodies played by folk artists. His methods have evolved over time — from recording in restaurants using quilts for makeshift soundproofing and editing audio on a secondhand computer, to later creating music tailored for market trends. Now, he seeks to return to his original, pure perception of sound.
"The voices of every era deserve to be recorded. They contain people's understanding of life at that moment and grant an imaginative power beyond what the eye can see," He says.
In his spare time, He often strolls the ancient town's lanes with his wife, savoring its subtle transformations. He is part of a growing group of locals returning to reintegrate into the town's pulse, becoming active participants in sustaining its cultural life.
"I want to continue being a person connected to music, recording and sharing the sounds of the place I call home," He says. In doing so, he ensures the soundscape of his era, and the life it contains, is preserved for the imagination of generations to come.
"The music here offers a fresh perspective. It's immersive, evoking images of ancient towns and villages, gentle breezes and a sense of serene beauty," Wu Anqi, a visitor from Xiamen, Fujian province, says. "Music is a way to showcase cultural vitality. Sound can tell the stories of life."
