Li Pengyong, an artist living in Xi'an, likens his work to protecting a rare species, just on the verge of extinction.

Although the 34-year-old pursues this worthy cause near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (built in 652) in Xi'an's southern suburbs, his efforts are not on behalf of any animal.

Li is a member of a group that meets every weekend in Shaanxi Province's capital city to teach the local dialect at their "Shaanxi Dialect Corner."

"My students are mostly tourists from other parts of China and some overseas college students who are studying in Xi'an. I teach them in order to protect and promote the dialect, but not at all for profit," Li told China Daily.

At present, few people speak Shaanxi dialect, which was formerly widely used throughout China, the artist said.

Bai Qitong, who sponsors the group, sees a strong historical value in teaching this dialect.

"We plan to teach people not only how to speak the Shaanxi dialect, but also how to recite poetry that was written during the Han (206 BC-AD 220) and Tang (618-907) dynasties in this once common dialect. These most prosperous of China's dynasties both made Xi'an their capital," he said.

With China on the globalization fast track, much of its linguistic heritage, such as regional dialects, is facing extinction as standardized mandarin spreads.

The Shaanxi dialect, noted for its passionate and high-pitched pronunciation, has long been considered a vivid reflection of the unconstrained nature of Shaanxi natives.

Shaanxi is one of the cradles of Chinese culture. Cang Jie, the legendary inventor of Chinese characters, was a Shaanxi native, noted Li Pengyong.

According to Bai Qitong, the Shaanxi dialect was first spoken throughout China since as far back as the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), the first Chinese feudal dynasty, which spread out from Shaanxi.

Because 13 dynasties had their capitals in Xi'an, many emperors, empresses, officials, ordinary people, and foreign envoys once spoke the Shaanxi dialect. In addition, many ancient historical documents and records, poetry, dramas and novels were also composed in the dialect.

"I did not know that so much ancient poetry was originally recited in Shaanxi dialect, which is so elegant," said Wu Yunmin, a 64-year-old tourist from Zhejiang Province in east China, who recently participated in the Shaanxi Dialect Corner.

Liu Ningle, a professor at Columbia University in the US, described the dialect as an expression of the local people's cultural values. Liu was taking part in an international seminar in Xi'an titled "Xi'an City: Historical Memory and Urban Culture" that ended on Friday.

"Language is an important carrier of culture. If we want to revitalize and rebuild the past glory of Shaanxi, we must protect Shaanxi dialect because it is a treasure of our ancient culture," Liu said.

(China Daily November 14, 2006)