Shanghai Pudong Airport hosts Meicun erhu exhibition

Meicun, a city within the jurisdiction of Wuxi, held an erhu performance on June 8 at Shanghai Pudong Airport to formally launch an exhibition being hosted by the international transit hub to promote the charms of the two-stringed bowed musical instrument to travellers.

The performance included some classic pieces such as The Horse Race and Memories of The South offering a fitting background to the arrangement of instruments and erhu-related information that will be on display until the end of August.

One article that drew particular attention from passing passengers was a special edition erhu made by Wan Qixing, a prominent Wuxi craftsman, who was proud to introduce his work and that of the instrument more generally at the exhibition.

"The erhu is one of the most important instruments in Chinese folk music. Meicun's erhucraftsmanship was listed as a Jiangsu province non-material cultural heritage in 2011," Wan Qixing introduced.

Indeed, Meicun has nurtured many craftsmen of the traditional instrument and continues to be one of the great protectors of the music form into the present day.

Liu Xia, a member of Xinwu District Committee and director of Publicity Department, believes the event was an important way of spreading traditional Wu culture.

"This exhibition provides an opportunity for Wuxi to promote erhu culture to travellers across the world and allow more people to have a better understanding of Wu culture."

Meicun began making the instruments in the early 1965 and can currently boast 18 workshops with an annual output close to 40,000 every year. This accounts for nearly 25 percent of China's high-enderhu market.

Wuxi's government plans to develop an erhu focused cultural park to promote the historic culture and to act as a place that regularly hosts erhu events. These efforts will combine industry, culture, and tourism.