China in grip of a 'piano fever'

I recently heard an article on BBC Radio 4 which left me totally amazed, but then perhaps everything we hear from China is magnified beyond conception. I have since found said article published in the Spectator 4th June 2008.


Petroc Trelawny visits the world's biggest piano factory in the country where under Mao it was dangerous to play the instrument.

He visited the Pearl River Piano Company in the Southern China city of Guangdong where they made 100,000 pianos last year and rising!! Its almost one instrument for every minute of the working day. A basic Pearl River piano costs about £800, a fortune to many Chinese, but well within the budget of the country's burgeoning urban middle classes.

Conservative estimates suggest that 30 million Chinese children are currently learning the instrument; many reckon the figure is much higher. One academic suggested the country was in the grip of 'piano fever'.
Looking for a Pearl River piano in Shanghai Trelawny was told to head for Jin Dong Street. He stopped counting after passing 35 independent shops selling pianos and other instruments, none of them short of customers!

Well, that would keep a piano tuner busy. Who said the piano was in decline? I only hope they don't send them here, especially used ones, the quality is extremely poor. The materials to rebuild a decent European piano cost more than £800!