Guozixuan Guqin Art School is a spare-time instrument training school in downtown Beijing. It offers lesson on how to play the guqin, a seven-string Chinese instrument with a history of more than 3,000 years. Even with China's rapid modernization and urbanization, the guqin, with its gentle, melancholic sound, is attracting more and Chinese from all walks of life.

The guqin was traditionally favored by scholars and well-educated people as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement. Much mystery surrounds it. It is 3 feet by 6.5 inches, symbolizing the 365 days of the year. The upper surface is rounded, representing the sky. The bottom is flat and represents the ground. The five strings of the earliest guqins symbolize the five basic elements of the universe: fire, earth, water, metal and wood.

Video: Hou Weiping