Winter is the season of leisure for farmers in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of Northwest China.

This year, the farmers in Awat County have been attracted to a new recreation consisting of a set of exercises set to the area's traditional music and dance form -- Dolan muqam.

The Dolan muqam exercise routine, which fuses gymnastic exercises with folk dance, has been registered at the Autonomous Region's Bureau of Copyright and is now well-known throughout the county.

According to Zeng Anjun, director of the Cultural Relics Bureau of the Aksu Prefecture, the word "dolan" originally meant "wilderness."

In the 12th century, a group of the Uygur people moved to the Yarkan River Valley in southern Xinjiang to flee from wars in their original homeland. They lived by fishing and hunting, different from other Uygur groups, which all depended on farming for their livelihood.

Originating on the Pamir Plateau, the Yarkan River flows northeast to converge with other tributaries of the Tarim River, which marks the division of the sandy Tarim Basin from the more fertile northern part of Xinjiang.

In the comparatively closed-in surroundings of the Yarkan River Valley, these early settlers created their own unique culture, calling themselves the Dolan people. Today the Dolans live mainly in Awat, Bachu and Markit counties.

Muqam is a common musical genre among the Muslims farming in Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa. The Dolan muqam, or folk dance, is a cousin of the Uygur muqam folk dance, set apart by its primitive and dynamic movements, which are a result of the Dolan people's hunting lifestyle.

A Dolan muqam folk dance usually has six parts: the first section involves motivating people to join in the hunt; the second, holding a torch to search for wild beasts; the third, bravely attacking the beasts; the fourth, chasing the wounded beasts; the fifth, killing them, and finally, the sixth and closing section celebrating the successful completion of the hunt.

To the accompaniment of song, tambourines and some stringed instruments, many pairs of dancers demonstrate their skills in the center of a large circle of cheering onlookers.

As the music picks up momentum, the dancers whirl like wind. At its climax, only the best pair of dancers is left at the center, whirling around at an incredible speed.

Amid thundering applause and the shouting of "Ustah!" (Great Master), the Dolan muqam dance comes to an end.

In an effort to promote traditional Dolan culture, the Awat County government invited a group of experts and folk performers to create a set of Dolan muqam exercises. The full set of exercises consists of 13 sections.

"The music for Dolan muqam dances is so beautiful that whenever people hear it, they want to dance, and that's why we wanted to create a set of Dolan muqam exercises," said Tuerxun Tuerdi, director of the Awat Art Troupe.

"The exercises have close connections with Dolan culture. They reflect both the straightforward character of the Dolan people and the general etiquette of the Uygurs," he said.

Accompanied by Dolan muqam music, the exercises are based on the physical movements of the mashrap, a kind of group dance at the climax of the Dolan muqam dance.

The exercises start with easy movements but gradually become more dynamic and demanding, involving various parts of the body.

The new Dolan muqan exercises have generated a lot of interest, and many farmers in Awat are taking lessons in the new Dolan muqam exercise regimen.

(China Daily February 28, 2004)