The matouqin or horse-head fiddle, a traditional Mongolian instrument was so impressive at a concert performed by a symphony orchestra from Ordos' Uxin Banner, said Yuan Hui, a China Daily journalist working in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The Uxin Banner Matouqin Symphony Orchestra gives a concert in the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing in 2014. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the summer of 2014, the Uxin Banner Matouqin Symphony Orchestra, China's only symphony orchestra featuring matouqin as main string, prepared a concert to stage in the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Yuan attended its rehearsal in Hohhot. A well-known Mongolian folk song featuring Urad grassland was played at the rehearsal. "I was taken to the grassland by the flow of the melody. The profound, dreamlike and somewhat melancholy melody brought me to tears," Yuan described as she was listening to the matouqin concert.

The power of music should never be underestimated, she said. A household story in Inner Mongolia tells of a mother camel that refused to feed its newborn baby until the owner comforted it with matouqin music.

Cha Gan (center) conducts the Uxin Banner Matouqin Symphony Orchestra. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over 10,000 people in Uxin Banner, with a population of 130,000, can play the matouqin, according to Chan Gan, a famous conductor and the art director of the Uxin Banner Matouqin Symphony Orchestra. Cha said he hopes more people can enjoy the charming matouqin music.

Actually, Uxin Banner has been working to become a "City of Matouqin". It was named a base for matouqin culture inheritance and protection by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society. Moreover, the popular instrument was included in the curriculum of Uxin Banner's primary schools.

Students of Uxin Banner's primary school play matouqin. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 10th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities will open in Ordos this August, when a grand matouqin performance will take place with 1,000 players.

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