Town performs encore in sound of music

Weifang, a city in Shandong province, is known the world over for its traditional kite-making industry.

However, nestled within this city is a small town home to 100,000 residents that is gaining global plaudits for producing high-quality musical instruments.

In Tangwu town, more than 5,000 people are involved in the business of making over two million musical instruments each year, including guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo and mandolin, which are sold to more than 30 countries and regions, according to the township government.

Among these, Tangwu's electric guitars alone have a market share of some 40 percent in China.

Upon arriving in Tangwu, visitors are greeted by a towering guitar landmark and sculptures of musical instruments, serving as a testament to the town's instrument-making prowess.

"Farmer friends here have learned how to produce professional guitars and basses, and their products have surpassed many well-known brands," said Julian Garcia, who works as a quality supervisor at Changyunda Musical Instrument Co Ltd, located in Tangwu, Changle county.

Garcia, a professional bassist from Argentina, once bought a guitar made in Yangwu and was amazed by its quality.

"I was curious to know everything about the town, so I came to Tangwu to explore more," he said.

Top-notch quality

In a guitar production base of Changyunda, workers are busy polishing, painting, tuning and assembling electric guitars.

"My main job is quality control, and as a professional bassist, I provide some of my own suggestions in production," said Garcia, who was seen debugging a guitar at the production base in early December in order to ensure a perfect sound and feel.

As a professional musician, Garcia has a good understanding of the problems that musicians face during a performance.

"We will have targeted production processes to avoid many aftersales problems," he said.

The production process of making one electric guitar involves eight major steps, with 70 percent of the work being done manually, said Zhang Longgang, manager of the company.

Changyunda, which specializes in manufacturing electric guitars and bass products, sells over 90 percent of its products overseas. The company exported 100,000 musical instruments in the first 10 months of 2023, said Zhang.

"Our sales have maintained a trend of steady growth in recent years," he added.

Zhang attributed the company's development to the complete industrial chain in the town.

The roads of its industrial park spanning 80,000 square meters are lined with companies involved in the production of musical instruments and their parts.

To help these companies explore global markets, the park has established a cross-border e-commerce service center. The town has also built 48 warehouses in Europe and the Americas, said the township government.

Of the 108 companies dedicated to producing musical instruments in Tangwu, 22 have the authorization to engage in import and export.

The town has seen sales of musical instruments grow rapidly, with over 1.3 million instruments sold in 2020, representing a 30 percent increase compared to 2019. Last year's sales surpassed 2 million.

Building brands

Tangwu started manufacturing musical instruments in 1971 when a musical instrument factory was established. Over the next two decades, a joint venture with a company from South Korea was also set up in the town, focusing on the production of electric guitars and expanding the business to overseas markets.

Around 30 people went to South Korea to learn guitar manufacturing techniques. These workers quickly became skilled technicians. They honed their skills through practice and passed these on to others.

As a result, an increasing number of farmers in the town have started to learn guitar-related crafts such as polishing, assembling and tuning. Some of these skilled workers went on to establish their own companies, further developing the musical instrument business in the town.

With decades of development, more business owners have come to recognize the importance of brands for the long-term success of a company.

Among them is Zhao Weiguo, general manager of Eart Music Co Ltd, which has been dedicated to producing guitars under its own brand for 20 years.

"Guitars without brands often fail to attract attention at international exhibitions, even if they possess the same quality as famous brands," said Zhao.

In 2020, Zhao's company achieved a milestone by selling over 10,000 electric guitars overseas through an e-commerce platform.

"Consumers have provided positive feedback, expressing amazement at the feel and sound quality of our products," Zhao said, adding that the effort put into cultivating its own brand over the past two decades has been worthwhile.

As part of its brand-building initiatives, Eart Music has established 837 classrooms across the country to offer free guitar lessons. These classrooms have trained more than 2,000 teachers and 60,000 students.

Currently, the town nurtures 40 local guitar brands.

The Changle County Musical Instrument Association has also registered a brand eponymously named Tangwu Guitar, as a regional collective brand for use by companies registered under the association.

Customized designs

Attracted by the growing musical instrument industry in his hometown, Qin Jiduo, a former senior employee at a renowned mandolin manufacturer in Qingdao, Shandong province, returned to Tangwu in 2016.

He founded a high-end mandolin customization workshop.

"Workshops are better places to make exquisite crafting instruments," said Qin.

In his studio, tools of different sizes used to make mandolins and musical instrument components are spread out.

"The small-scale production allows for meticulous craftsmanship that can meet personalized demands," he said.

Crafting musical instruments is a delicate art, and customization takes it to a higher level, he said.

For instance, Qin uses a special paint — despite the high costs — to minimize interference with the instrument's tonal quality.

Qin is now able to produce three mandolins each month.

Like Qin, many guitar-making technicians are incorporating elements of traditional culture into guitar design concepts to make customized products.

Some of them draw inspiration from features like blue and white porcelain and local customs.

Going forward, the "Guitar Town" will continue to enhance its brand effect and create a cultural intellectual property for itself, said Zhang Peng, Party secretary of Tangwu.

"We will accelerate cross-border e-commerce and promote enterprises in going global," said Zhang.