10-Day Chinese Instrument Study Camp: Guzheng, Erhu & Pipa

Morning — Arrival in Beijing
As soon as you step off the plane at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), your guide will be waiting just outside the baggage-claim area holding a name sign. A private vehicle will transfer you to your hotel, where your guide assists with check-in and provides a brief orientation. The rest of the day is yours to relax and recover from the long flight.

Morning — three instruments, one scale
The studio holds a set of instruments and a teacher for each section. The guzheng is the oldest of the three families on the table: a zither of about twenty-one strings stretched over a long soundboard, tuned pentatonically, plucked with the right hand while the left presses the strings for pitch bends and vibrato. The pipa is a four-stringed lute played upright, with a percussive right-hand technique that produces the dense, rapid figures people associate with Chinese court music. The erhu has only two strings, no fingerboard, and a small python-skin soundbox; between them they cover the range from solo melody to accompaniment.

Late morning — first technique
Everyone rotates through all three before choosing one for the week's work. On the guzheng you learn the plucking hand position and get a clean tone out of a single string, which takes longer than it sounds. On the pipa it is the tremolo and the wrist. On the erhu the first task is simply producing a note without the bow scraping, then playing the same note a fourth higher by moving a finger a centimetre. Notation is jianpu - numbered notation in which the numbers are scale degrees and the dots above or below set the octave - which most visitors find easier than staff notation for a pentatonic scale.

Lunch
A set lunch near the studio. The afternoon session starts at two, so there is time for a short walk in the lanes around the teaching rooms.

Afternoon — a piece, by ear and by number
The afternoon is spent on one short piece: about sixteen bars, taught phrase by phrase, first by ear and then from jianpu. The teacher picks something recognisable - a folk tune or the melody everyone in China can hum - and slows it down until the group can play it in unison. Ensemble skills are introduced here rather than later: counting in, watching the leader's hand, and the discipline of playing quietly enough to hear the instrument next to you. Nobody is asked to perform alone on the first day.

Evening — listening session and dinner
Before dinner the teachers play for the group: a guzheng piece, an erhu solo, and a pipa passage from a classical suite, with an explanation of what to listen for and where the techniques came from. Dinner follows nearby, and the evening is free. Instruments stay at the studio, so nobody has to carry a case through Beijing.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation
In Beijing.

Morning — the rehearsal hall
A rehearsal room with a piano, a mirrored wall and a set of percussion instruments is the base for the day. The morning runs in sections: the melodic instruments work intonation against the piano, the percussion works the counting, and the group spends a full hour on the two things that make an amateur ensemble audible rather than merely accurate - breathing together at the start of a phrase and holding the tempo steady through the difficult bar. The conductor for the programme is a local teacher arranged through our music partner; the specific school and teacher are confirmed before the group departs.

Late morning — the programme takes shape
By late morning the group is working on the full programme rather than fragments: one Chinese piece, one Western piece, and something short in which local students can join the melody. Tempos are fixed, dynamics are marked into the parts, and every participant is given a named cue to enter on. This is the unglamorous part of ensemble playing and it is where a programme is actually won.

Lunch
Lunch near the rehearsal hall, taken with the teachers so that questions about technique and repertoire continue at the table.

Afternoon — joint rehearsal with students
In the afternoon you travel to a music school campus, arranged through our local education partner, and rehearse together with its students. The exchange works best when both sides play: the local students open with a short piece of their own, the group answers, and then everyone plays the shared numbers together with doubled parts. Language is not much of a problem in a rehearsal - tuning is tuning and counting is counting, and the participants who can say eight bars of introductions in Chinese do better than the ones who cannot. Instruments and parts for the joint section are provided by the partner school; participants bring their own reeds, sticks or mouthpieces if they have them.

Evening — run-through and dinner
Back at the rehearsal hall, a full run-through of the programme without stopping, followed by notes and dinner. The evening is deliberately not a performance - the first audience comes tomorrow, and the group should meet the programme once more before it does.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation
In Beijing.

Morning — Farewell & check-out
Begin with light morning exercise, then enjoy a warm farewell breakfast together. After check-out, gather for group photos and a farewell gathering to say goodbye to teachers and friends, keeping the memories of the camp.

Afternoon — Airport / station drop-off
Your guide and driver will provide a safe, orderly transfer from the hotel to the airport or railway station, ensuring a smooth start to your journey home.

Morning — Summer Palace
Explore the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), the Qing Dynasty imperial garden built around Kunming Lake. Walk the Long Corridor with its painted ceilings and view the Marble Boat for a taste of royal leisure before leaving Beijing.

Afternoon — High-speed train to Shanghai
After lunch, board a high-speed train to Shanghai. The Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway covers about 1,318 km (819 miles) in roughly 4.5 to 6 hours, one of the fastest and busiest rail lines in the world, offering a front-row view of China's changing landscapes.

Evening — Arrive in Shanghai
Arrive in Shanghai and transfer to your hotel in the city center, convenient for exploring the bustling waterfront and neighborhoods in the days ahead.

Meals
Lunch is on your own (available on the train or before boarding); dinner on your own in Shanghai.

Accommodation
Your hotel in Shanghai.

Morning — rehearsal with the tutors
The morning is a working rehearsal in a studio with a piano, a full set of Chinese instruments and the two local tutors who have been coaching the group. The programme is finalised: one piece written for Chinese instruments, one Western work arranged for the group, and one short item in which the local musicians join. China's first higher music school was founded in Shanghai in 1927, and the city has had a continuous professional training tradition since then, which means the standard of the tutors arranged for visiting ensembles here is high and the corrections are direct. Expect intonation work, a metronome, and a long time on one transition.

Late morning — balance and staging
The second session moves from notes to performance. Where does each player stand so that the melody is heard above the accompaniment? How much can the percussion give without covering the plucked strings? What is the signal for the last note? The group also agrees the spoken introduction that will be given before each item, in English and in a short Chinese version, and who will deliver it - a task that is offered to participants rather than assigned to the leader.

Lunch
An early lunch, then the instruments are moved to the hall; the group travels together because the cases go in the same vehicle.

Afternoon — stage call
The afternoon is a technical rehearsal in a mid-size hall, arranged through our local performance partner with the venue confirmed before departure. This is the session that decides how the evening feels: sightlines are checked, the lighting plan is agreed, the piano is tuned, the microphones for the quieter instruments are placed and the group plays the whole programme once in the space, sitting where they will sit. Most ensembles discover at this point that the hall is drier or wetter than the studio and that the tempo they rehearsed is a little too fast on a stage.

Evening — the performance
The concert is played to an audience of local residents, students and the partner musicians. Two items are performed with the local players, and the closing number is the one everyone rehearsed that morning. The group gives one short encore, chosen before the performance so that nobody has to decide anything on stage. Afterwards there is a short reception with the audience and the tutors, which for most participants is the part of the day they talk about afterwards.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation
In Shanghai.

Morning — Yuyuan Garden
Visit Yuyuan Garden, a classical Chinese garden built in the Ming Dynasty (completed in 1577) in Shanghai's old town. Its pavilions, rockeries, ponds, and carved halls show the art of southern garden design, beside the lively Yuyuan Bazaar.

Midday — Shanghai Museum
Explore the Shanghai Museum, home to over one million artifacts including bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, and paintings that trace China's 5,000-year history. Its rounded building on People's Square is itself a city landmark.

Evening — The Bund
Stroll The Bund, Shanghai's iconic waterfront along the Huangpu River, where colonial-era buildings from the early 1900s face the futuristic skyline of Pudong. An optional acrobatics show can be arranged.

Meals
Lunch and dinner are included, featuring local Shanghainese cuisine.

Accommodation
Your hotel in Shanghai.

Morning — Wukang Road & Fuxing Park
Meet at Wukang Road and walk the historic street amid well-preserved Western-style villas and plane trees; visit the Wukang Mansion, a famous Art Deco landmark. Continue to Fuxing Park, a classic Shanghai park blending French and Chinese styles where locals practice tai chi and play chess.

Afternoon — M50 & Anfu Road
Enjoy a leisurely lunch at a cafe in the French Concession, then visit M50 Creative Park, a former textile mill turned art zone with galleries, studios, and design shops. Explore exhibitions, meet local artists, and see street art, then walk Anfu Road's boutiques and cafes for the local artistic lifestyle.

Evening (Optional) — Performance or Dinner
Attend a performance at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre or dine at a French-style bistro (optional, not included).

Morning — Shanghai Museum
Visit the Shanghai Museum to admire its celebrated collections of ancient Chinese calligraphy, painting, bronzes, and jade. The galleries offer a rich overview of China's artistic traditions across several millennia.

Afternoon — Yu Garden
Wander Yu Garden, a Ming Dynasty classical garden with rockeries, koi ponds, and zigzag bridges. Together with its surrounding bazaar, it offers a tranquil counterpoint to the modern city.

Evening — Shanghai Tower
Ascend the Shanghai Tower, one of the world's tallest buildings at 632 meters, for a 360° view of the Huangpu River and the Lujiazui financial district. As daylight fades, the skyline below lights up for a memorable panorama.

Morning — Departure Transfer
Your guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) for your departure flight home, bringing your journey to a close.