Art education should be child's play

I recently attended an art lecture held by the National Center for the Performing Arts, at which CCTV anchor Bai Yansong shared his views on classical music. Not a musician, nor an educator, Bai understands why most ordinary Chinese people feel classical music is a distant and high-brow art form.

"I did not enjoy classical music until my 30s. I did not enjoy it because I did not understand it," Bai, 42, said.

Right from primary school, Bai said, Chinese students like him were taught there is only one right answer to a question. This does not work when it comes to music, he said. Music is hard to describe or interpret in words, and different people have different feelings about a piece, equally valid.