Musical instrument class debuts

On 27 May, 2014, musical instrument class made debut in Friendship Villa and the first batch students attended the class. Ms. Qi Yanjia, an musical academic was invited to play the hulusi and teach international students. After playing some famous Chinese songs by the hulusi, Ms. Qi taught international students holding posture and skills to play it.

The hulusi or cucurbit flute is a free reed wind instrument from China, originally used primarily in Yunnan Province by the Dai ethnic group who call it “bilangdao” and other ethnic-minority groups of southern China. It has gained nationwide popularity throughout China, similar to the popularity of the harmonica in the West.

The hulusi is held vertically and has three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; the center pipe has finger holes and the outer two are typically drone pipes. It is not uncommon for a hulusi to have only one drone pipe while the second outer pipe is merely ornamental. The drone pipe has a finger hole, which allows it to be stopped.