Embark on a journey to explore the poetic beauty of Hangzhou, the host city of the 19th Asian Games. Let your soul be enchanted by harmonious melodies and timeless poems in this special episode of Music Talks, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Words from Chinese ancient poems... Captivating notes in Chinese traditional music... A symphony of culture and history that will touch your heart and stir your soul... Will Hangzhou, the heart of China's poetic heritage, now a city of sportsmanship and unity, leave you inspired and enchanted？ Join the Hangzhou Rendezvous with Music Talks on Mid-Autumn Day, to appreciate the serene beauty described in legends, the natural wonder and perfect harmony of tradition and modernity. Hangzhou...

In this episode, we journey through the majestic realms of China’s ancient Bianzhong Bells, which are grand percussion instruments dating back to the 11th century BC. Join us to uncover the bells’ extraordinary design, dual-tone capabilities, and their role in unveiling the rich tapestry of China’s musical and ceremonial culture.

In this episode, we unravel the enchanting story of the Jiahu Bone Flutes, or Gudi, an ancient instrument that emerged over 8,000 years ago. Rediscovered in the 1980s, these flutes illuminate a rich musical heritage that has long been forgotten...

In this episode, we dive into the distinctive music of the Yi people, the sixth largest ethnic minority in China. In 2019, two Gen-Z musicians, Ji'er Chisha and Liu Junlin, embarked on a journey to the Yi ethnic areas in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces to collect folk songs. In March, 2023, they released an album featuring a collection of songs with strong Yi characteristics based on what they had seen, heard and felt during the three-year journey.

Our guest today is Liao Nini, a guqin enthusiast, a teacher and also an online influencer who has been actively promoting the ancient Chinese zither over the past decade. With a history of over 3,000 years, the guqin is one of the oldest plucked instruments in China. Apart from her proficiency in the guqin, she is also skilled in playing the guzheng, another traditional Chinese plucked zither with 21 strings. In some of her music videos, she blends the sounds of both instruments to create a...

Duanwu Festival, better known as the Dragon Boat Festival, falls on June 22 this year. With a history of over 2,000 years, it's celebrated annually on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. To mark this special occasion, we invite several young musicians from across the country to share with us how the festival is reflected in music.

In this episode, we are joined by a music producer and DJ from Shanghai who goes by the name M3SSIAH. Considered one of the early pioneers of China's electronic music scene, the musician trailblazed a style known as China Epic EDM by blending traditional Chinese elements and symphony into electronic music. Today, the artist brings us several pieces of his original works.

In this episode, we introduce a lesser-known musical treasure from ancient China called the xun. Also known as the Chinese ocarina, it's a vessel flute that is often made of clay and is shaped like a pear with multiple holes dotted on the surface. Over the past decades, a number of artists have endeavored to bring the ancient gem back to life, with Wu Suxin being one of them. Today, Wu joins us and shares some of his original xun music.

In this episode, we dive into the world of the double bass. For those who're not familiar with the instrument, it looks a lot like the cello but is larger in size and comes with a lower pitch. Our guest today is double bassist Li Shaonan from Beijing who aspires to bring healing music to a wider audience.

The shakuhachi is one of the most iconic wind instruments in Japan. It's an ancient bamboo flute with five finger holes and is held vertically. In terms of its origin, it's widely believed that the bamboo flute made its way to Japan from China around the 8th century. Our guest today is Chinese shakuhachi player Fang Guanghui. In this episode, Fang shares his musical encounter with the bamboo flute and a few shakuhachi solo pieces.

Dera Tserang is an ethnic Tibetan musician based in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Originally a member of the Tibetan band Nyima, Dera has been dedicated to creating world music with Tibetan characteristics. In this episode, Dera joins us and shares some of his handpicked songs.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. At Nanchang Hangkong University in Jiangxi Province, a group of foreign students have formed a band named after the initiative. In this episode, the band's vocalist Daniel from Tanzania, drummer Nyasha and backup singer Ollie from Zimbabwe join us and share some of their songs.

Paying it forward is a way to pass acts of kindness on to others. Wang Qian is a zither instrumentalist and an educator with the Central Conservatory of Music. In recent years, she has been dedicated to giving back to society with the power of music, as she believes the role of modern musicians is not solely about making music, but also about inspiring others and broadening their horizons.

May 1 marks International Workers' Day, an annual holiday to pay tribute to the laborers around the world. Gucang, previously known as the New Workers, is a band based in Beijing. What's special about this band is that this troupe is largely comprised of former migrant workers and has sung solely for laborers over the past two decades. In this episode, vocalists of the band, Xu Duo and Lu Liang, join us and share some of their stories.

April 24 marks the Space Day of China, an annual occasion to commemorate the country's achievements in space exploration. To pay tribute to human's space exploration endeavors, musicians from China and Iceland have joined hands and created a theme song titled Space Fantasia. In this episode, Icelandic musician Doctor Victor, Chinese pop singer Nerissa Wang and guzheng player Luan Siyuan, aka Lucy, join us and share the story behind their collaboration.

Since 2019, Hao Sa, a Chinese instrumentalist with the Beijing Peking Opera Theatre, has been diligent in incorporating more Chinese classical instruments into the Peking opera ensemble, more specifically the seven-stringed zither and the Chinese hammered-dulcimer. Today, Hao shares with us how and why she has been pivotal in spreading these ancient cultural performance arts to a larger audience.

The Chinese classic "Flowing Water" is played with one of the oldest Chinese instruments, called the Guqin, also known as the seven-stringed zither. In early April, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced the story behind the thousand-year-old tune to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron when they recently held informal talks in Guangzhou. In this episode, we'll introduce the ancient instrument. You'll hear how it sounds, how it is used in both ancient and contemporary music, and you'll...

The Chinese classical piece “Along the River during the Qingming Festival” portrays the landscape of Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty during the 10th and the 12th centuries, and gives us a glimpse of the daily lives of the ancient people and how they celebrated the Qingming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day. In this episode, our guests on the show are composer Liu Weiguang and vertical flute performer Tian Long. Let’s find out how the melody is able to take us back to the hustle...

Our guest today is Halamuji, an ethnic Mongolian musician from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China. The Mongols are often dubbed as "the people on horseback." Aside from their nomadic way of life, they are also known for their distinctive music. In this episode, the 24-year-old musician shares several pieces of music featuring the Mongolian throat singing and the horsehead fiddle.

For our listeners living in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is in the air with grass turning green and blossoms on the verge of blooming. You’ve probably noticed daytime has gradually become longer than that in the gloomy days of winter. Eventually, the length of day and night at some point become the same, and this year, the phenomenon occurs on March 21 on the Gregorian calendar. According to the Chinese 24-solar terms, this special day is called the spring equinox. In this episode, we will...

The sanxian is a three-stringed traditional Chinese lute with a long fretless fingerboard and a rounded base often made of snake skin. In this episode, Wang Yu, a sanxian artist with the China Broadcasting Performing Arts Group, joins us again on the show and brings some of his latest creations. Among them is Sanxian: The Sound of China, a piece featuring his collaboration with electronic musican Wei Huhu to present diverse sanxian music styles from across the country.

Our guest today is Zhu Wenjing, a pipa instrumentalist and also a movie lover. For those who're not familiar with the instrument, the pipa is the well-known four-stringed Chinese lute that's shaped like a pear. Zhu has been teaching the pipa for quite some time. Recently, she's also been active as a content creator, covering a number of notable movie soundtracks.

For those who are thinking of picking up a traditional Chinese instrument, the guqin may not always be considered first. Actually, the guqin is one of the oldest plucked instruments in China that dates back over 3,000 years. In recent years, a group of young Chinese has been dedicated to bringing the ancient instrument to a wider audience. In this episode, Zhu Liyue, head of the Zi De Guqin Studio joins our show and shares a variety of their music productions.

Wearing traditional Chinese clothing with a face veil and sitting in front of the ancient Chinese zither, Peng Jingxuan is surrounded by a number of bystanders as she plucks the strings on the street of France. Aside from being an international student currently studying in Lyon, the 27-year-old guzheng player is also a fast-growing online influencer. In this episode, we get up close with Peng as she shares her live street music, as well as her story of bringing the traditional Chinese...