Music teacher keeps village students in tune with their talent

It is almost like a ritual; certainly it's an accurate way to keep the time. Every Sunday afternoon, from 3 pm, a melody of different Chinese musical instruments can be heard and appreciated by passersby as they stroll by Li Shuyou's house in Jiantouzhou village in Liling city, Hunan province. The music has accompanied them for over five years.

Inside the dwelling, known to locals as "Shuyou's music workshop", over a dozen school-age boys and girls are playing traditional Chinese instruments－erhu (a two-stringed instrument), sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument), zhongruan (a traditional four-stringed plucked instrument), huqin (a two-stringed bowed instrument), liuqin (a four-stringed Chinese mandolin) and many other instruments that are rarely seen.

Seven years ago, Li and his wife returned to the village upon retirement. He noticed that many children there had nothing to do after school and, because their parents were away working in big cities, simply wandered the streets or became addicted to online games.