Instruments of change

The yard of Xu Yachong, 28, in Xuchang village of Lankao, is permeated with the unique aroma of paulownia as a woman whittles away at a piece of wood, with dozens of completed guqin, a zither-like seven-stringed plucked instrument, hanging behind her.

In the exhibition and sales room, a man plays guqin to lure visitors. Xu, together with his pregnant wife, broadcasts a melodious ensemble via livestream.

Like many villagers, Xu has developed a whole, family-based, industrial chain for paulownia-production, sales, marketing and giving guqin lessons-through which they turned the wood into gold.

"The musical instrument business has greatly improved our lives and many other families in the village," Xu says, adding that his homemade guqin can sell from 50,000 yuan ($7,807) to 180,000 yuan, and that, on average, he sells about 300 guqin a year. About 10 percent of Xu's instruments are exported to countries such as Germany and Malaysia.