Violins instrumental in ending poverty

Zhang Tingting, a 32-year-old music teacher in Queshan county, Henan province, has been giving free violin lessons to children on weekends for three years. The classes take place in a local violin manufacturing industrial park which provides all the instruments free of charge.

"Don't hold the strings too tightly with your fingers. Gently drive your wrist with your forearm," Zhang tells the beginners while keeping time with her hands.

Born into a farming family, Zhang dreamed of pursuing a career in music as a child, when the only musical instrument in her primary school was a pedal piano.

Now, Queshan has a cluster of musical instrument manufacturers that produce violins for many renowned brands worldwide.

With an annual output of about 400,000 violins, Queshan produces more than 80 percent of made-in-China medium-and high-quality violins, violas, cellos, basses and violin accessories. About 90 percent of the county's violin-related products are made for export to Italy, the United States, Germany and Hungary.

Queshan's violin manufacturing business began in 2015, when the Queshan Violin Industrial Park was set up with the help of several skilled violin artisans who had returned home after their employers' plants in Beijing closed down.

One of the founders, Wang Jintang, said he was employed at a violin factory in Beijing's Tongzhou district as an apprentice.

After he honed his instrument-making skills, he introduced many of his fellow villagers to the factory. However, with the rapid urbanization of Beijing, many instrument makers were forced to close or relocate.

In 2015, Queshan county encouraged the craftsmen to return and set up violin manufacturing workshops. The workers made redundant in Beijing were absorbed into the growing industry in Queshan.

"Production of the musical instrument has strict requirements," Wang said.

"An error of 0.1 mm is a waste of expensive woods that have been dried for several years in preparation for making violins. It takes years of training for an apprentice to become an instrument maker."

Wang's workshop has trained 50 craftsmen over the years. The process of violin making involves 40 steps.

The industrial park, which provides jobs for more than 2,600 locals, produced violins and related products worth 600 million yuan ($85.68 million) last year.

Sun Yongqing, a 48-year-old farmer, put down his hoe and found a job in the park last year. His job is to analyze the quality of the timber and select suitable wood for making different kinds of violins.

Sun said he is in poor health and farming was not the best job option as his family was heading toward poverty. "This job does not take much effort and is close to my home," he said while sorting through pieces of spruce.

He earns 3,500 yuan a month, and the job helped his family shake off poverty by the end of last year.

None of the workers in Queshan's violin manufacturing industry are familiar with Western music, but they love to see their children learning the instrument. The violin makers offer the instruments for free to anyone wanting to learn how to play.

Wang is proud that his son is studying at China's top music institution, the Central Conservatory of Music.

"Unlike the older guys, my son can make a violin and play it well. That is how our lives are getting better and better," he said.