Playing the Guzheng
on Tina's Journal (China), 16/Aug/2009 06:19, 34 days ago
Last night was my first experience of playing the Guzheng. It is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument and is played by plucking the strings creating an enchanting melodic sound, which I personally associate with the traditional romantic image of China. I can't really play the instrument but I was entertained by a seven year old who played the instrument with real confidence.The young girl is the daughter of one of the friends I was having dinner with and he wanted to introduce his daughter to me to practice her English, she is obviously full of other talents too. I was surprised by my venue yesterday evening as we entered a gateway just off the main road not far from the college to find a luxurious setting, lovely gardens in the grounds of an hotel. I never knew it was there and walk by there everyday! We met the owner of the complex, who chatted away to me (through a friend translating!). He is an ex-soldier who fought the Vietnamese in 1979, an ardent communist and the owner of an hydroplant which is being developed in Southern Yunnan. He calls himself a revolutionary and is apparently one of the richest men in this area and obviously feels that Capitalism and Communism can run side by side in China. I was veryinterested in his political views especially as I discovered he has some influence in this part of Yunnan. However, conversing through a friend translating is not the best way to communicate and it is at times like this that I become very frustrated at my lack of communication skills in Chinese Mandarin!!! At the end of the evening we played a game of Ping-Pong and I managed to keep the ball in play maybe 25% of the time!!