The first Tibetan international music festival kicks off in Lhasa

The first Tibetan international music festival kicks off in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Li Jianhua]

An international music festival is underway in Tibet.

The 4-day event, which kicked-off last night, is part of an international festival being put on in the region.

Monday night's concert in Lhasa is being described as the first time the "roof of the world" has played host to an international concert.

The event has drawn both international, as well as local talents.

Concert organizer Jia Yongshun says scores of folk musicians have been scouted from different parts of Tibet to take part in this year's event.

"Traditional Tibetan singing and dancing is the highlight of the show, and most of the performers are actually farmers and herdsmen. Some of them were harvesting barley, and some were working in the pasture when we found them. The cast of the show were scouted from every part of Tibet, which makes it very unique in the history of music festival."

More than half of those performing at the event have also been tasked with setting up the concert venue itself, which -- the director says -- helps the work move smoothly.

Among the performers is 73-year-old Tsering Wangqing.

He says he first started to embrace folk music while working in the salt fields when he was 17-years old.

"I love my career as a salt harvester, because salt is essential to everyone's life. The salt harvesters would sing when they are working; they sell the salt they collect in exchange for yaks afterwards. This is how this art form came into being in the first place."

Organizers of this year's event in Lhasa say it wasn't easy to put together.

Director Jia Yongshun says monsoon rains, which normally roll over the Tibetan Plateau during August, made organizing the event rather difficult.

"The road conditions were terrible. When we were transporting the equipment to Lhasa, we were blocked by a mudslide. This made us take a huge detour. We had to go all the way from the Qinghai-Tibet highway to the Yunnan-Tibet highway, which added hundreds of kilometers to our trip. It was like everything was out of tune."

The music festival in Lhasa is part of a Tibet Tourism and Culture Festival.

This year's event has brought together around 15-hundred people from more than 15 countries and regions, who are taking part in various events this week.