Wu Lin, a musician with the China National Traditional Orchestra, plucks a konghou at a forum on traditional music in Langfang, Hebei province, in October.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The local government has started a program to train konghou teachers and students to promote the instrument. So far, some 10 teachers and 30 students can play the instrument. About 20 teachers and 100 students will be trained to play the konghou by 2022, says Jiang Huadong, director of the county's bureau of education and science and technology.

The distance between Xinjiang and major domestic conservatories did not stop them from honing their skills, as many teachers took to online courses, says Liang Pu, head of the county's konghou teachers' team.

As Qiemo's konghou players grow in numbers, they ventured out of classrooms to perform for locals and even play outside Xinjiang. Gulzeper Muhtar and her konghou teammates played a popular TV series theme song at a hit variety show in East China's Zhejiang province in 2018 and won a national art performance prize in 2019.

Gulzeper Muhtar's parents did not quite back her devotion to the konghou over worries that it might steal her study time. "I signed a contract with them, promising to quit playing the konghou if my academic performance worsened," she says, laughing.

She managed to strike a perfect balance between practicing konghou and studying, earning her parents' support. They bought her a konghou after seeing what it had earned their daughter: the first flight, the first trip to Beijing, a widened horizon and the dream to become a konghou cultural ambassador.

Gulzeper Muhtar plans to major in konghou in a conservatory after graduating from high school. "I feel a bond with konghou, and I want it to be heard by more people at home and overseas."