Let the music play

Zhouwo Village Symphony Orchestra comprises more than 30 villagers and plays when guests visit and on holidays. Photos by Wang Jing / China Daily

A house is painted to celebrate Zhouwo's first outdoor music festival.

There is a village where the residents not only make musical instruments, but are also learning how to play. Chen Nan visits the little community in Wuqiang, Hebei province, that is intent on making music its signature brand.

For more than 20 years, Jia Shuzhao's days have been filled with the same soft sounds, the quick chafing of sandpaper on maple. Working rapidly, precisely, her hands a dusty blur, she sands violins all day, five days a week.

There is a rhythm to what she does, but you wouldn't call it music.

Jia, 44, laughs when she is asked if she feels any connection to the melodies these violins will produce one day.

"Basically," she says, "it's a living."

Jia earns about 2,000 yuan ($315) a month working for the largest musical instrument maker for export in China. Asked to name her favorite instrument, Jia replies that she has a curious love for the trumpet - the instrument of choice for Red Army soldiers portrayed in the old movies, as they blew the rallying calls for faith, hope and courage, she recalls.

It was because of this that Jia applied to join the Zhouwo Village Symphony Orchestra in January, when the local government called for volunteers.

Together with 30 other villagers, Jia learned to play the instruments after work, and in just two months, she can now play without mistakes.

"Although it is not a formal orchestra and all the members are over 40, we are very dedicated and we enjoy it," she says. The first song they learned to play was Song of Joy. And now they have a repertoire of four songs - including Socialism is Good and Welcome March Song.

During special occasions, such as when foreign guests and government officials visit the village and on holidays, the orchestra members put on red and white uniforms and perform at the entrance of the village.