At festivals and weddings across Zhuanghe, folk bands feature a distinctive instrument: two pipes bound together, played at once for a bright, full tone that commands any gathering. A provincial-level intangible heritage, it has been heard here for over a century at temple fairs, yangge troupes and drum bands. Masters say the pipes ‘play not for the ear but for life itself.’ Now taught in schools, the pair of pipes carries the old sound of Liaonan onward.