Media tour delights to jaw harp tunes

The "A Date with China" media tour arrived at Liupan Mountain National Forest Parkin Guyuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region on Tuesday.

Foreign guests danced to music played by local Hui residents. The music came from a very small instrument called the jaw harp, or kouxian in Chinese pinyin.

The instrument contains a flexible reed in a solid frame and is meant to be played in the musician's mouth.

Jaw harps in Ningxia are made of either metal or bamboo. The instrument has a simple appearance, but mastering is harder than it seems.

The jaw harp is one of the world's oldest musical instruments and has a variety of names in different countries or regions.

Both Japanese and Italian participants of the media group said their countries have similar-looking instruments.