A well variety of musical instruments have been displayed during the China International Musical Instruments Expo and the second Belt and Road Commercial and Cultural Exchange Forum held in Bengbu city, East China's Anhui province, from Dec 1 to 2. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

According to Zhao, guqin has a history of more than 3,700 years. Together with Se, another Chinese plucked zither, they are the representative of China's ancient scholar culture. At present, the earliest guqin seen on the market was produced in the Tang Dynasty. The most common ones are made during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

"The invaluable guqin is made of bronze wood, a kind of ancient hardwood. And It is fantastic to use this material to make the guqin, but the kind of wood has already been extinct," said Zhao, adding that "guqin made of this wood cannot make voice at the beginning stage. It takes more than 100 years' maintenance to make the quqin make the first sound."

Guqin, a traditional Chinese instrument, is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement.