A time of rhyme

Recently, he was approached by a group of musicians, who wanted to learn to sing and record those songs. They invited Ni to perform in front of an audience.

"I was surprised that they wanted to listen to the old songs and wanted to learn to sing with me," Ni adds.

The musicians, led by singer-songwriter Xiao He, 45, whose real name is He Guofeng, are working on a music project, titled Nursery Rhyme Program, which aims to preserve old Chinese children's songs. One of the musicians involved is hip-hop star Jfever, whose real name is Zhao Hong. He rapped the song, Jiu Ku Miao, after Ni performed it.

Since 2018, He traveled with his musician friends to cities, including Beijing, Changsha in Hunan province and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.

They have discussed their project with people, mostly over 65, and collected more than 200 nursery rhymes. These were primarily local folk songs that had been the soundtrack to their childhood.

Besides recording and interviewing local people, they also held live performances to introduce the songs to a younger audience.

"Those old songs are full of memories for the elderly people we interviewed," says He, the former lead vocalist of Chinese rock band Glamorous Pharmacy. He has also written music for theatrical productions and movies.

In 2016, he joined in a music program for children with special needs and was inspired to search for more songs.

"It's not only about reminding people of their childhood memories but also about recording memories and sharing the histories of different generations via music," he says.