The performance of dialect songs evokes cultural memory and reinforces community identity. “Hanyangmen Huayuan” is a minyao (city folk) song written in Wuhan dialect by local musician and former psychotherapist Feng Xiang. Its polished rustic aesthetic and authentic nostalgia offer an intimate portrayal of local community life, distinctly different from other musical responses during the 2020 pandemic. The song resonated deeply with quarantined Wuhan residents, functioning as both a spiritual comfort and communal anthem during the city's lockdown period. The song's online comment section on Wangyiyun became a digital public sphere where listeners shared individual experiences and collective cultural memories. Numerous cover versions, performed in Wuhan dialect by musicians from various regions, demonstrated solidarity and empathy. These covers continue generating new meanings through participatory culture, contributing to the ongoing reconstruction and negotiation of Wuhan identity.

A notable version appeared at the 2025 CCTV Lantern Festival Gala, performed jointly by Feng Xiang and Taiwanese musician Zhou Chuanxiong. Through dynamic editing and image-music synchronization, this televised performance presented a montage of intangible cultural heritage elements, including regional opera, folk music, local cuisine, and lion dance. By situating the song within the festive context of Lantern Festival celebrations, this cross-strait collaboration highlighted shared cultural heritage across the Taiwan Strait, recontextualized the originally place-specific narrative, and connected it to broader themes of cultural tradition and communal belonging. This paper examines how the series of covers constitutes a participatory culture that blurs boundaries between producers and audiences, demonstrating the song’s evolving role in constructing and reconstructing local identity across multiple performative contexts.