The Sounds of China: A beginner’s guide to Chinese musical instruments

The earliest playable music instruments ever excavated were fragments of Neolithic crane bone flutes found in China’s Henan province. Dating back to 7,000-5,800BC, the flutes had five to eight holes and were capable of producing a near-perfect octave. Thousands of years later, a vast range of Chinese musical instruments are commonly used. The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO), which makes its own eco-friendly bowed string instruments, recently demonstrated some examples of the various instruments used in performances.