The elephant-foot drum is one of the most famous musical instruments of the Dai ethnic group (傣族). It got its name 1 it looks like the white elephant's leg. The drum-making skill was 2 as a national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in 2011.
Xie Wenping, 32 years old, used to 3 his grandfather to learn how to make a drum. His grandfather made elephant-foot drums for a living. "I wanted to make more and better 4 when I grew up." Xie said. Making an elephant-foot drum which is made of special wood is 5 . It usually takes about 30 steps and one month to finish the work. After Xie chooses the wood 6 , he needs to carve (雕刻) the wood into an elephant-leg-like shape and take out the wood. "A good elephant-foot drum 7 have thick and loud sound." Xie explained. The work of making the drum is boring, but whenever Xie sees his grandfather's smile while making the drum, he feels 8 again. "Over the years, fewer and fewer people are excellent in making elephant-foot drums." Xie said, "I feel like I should carry it on."
Xie tries to make the elephant-foot drum 9 to places outside Yunnan. He wants to get more people to know about 10 . He came up with the idea of making key chains (链子) shaped like the elephant-foot drum. "Tourists love them!" Xie said.
