Conductor's love for music started with the erhu

It was love at first sound. Tan Lihua fell into love with music after he heard his neighbor playing the erhu.

Like most Chinese musicians of his generation who joined a local or army ensemble so as not be sent to work in the countryside during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), the 57-year-old decided to pick up the two-stringed vertical fiddle. He later also mastered the violin.

In 1970, he joined an air force's song and dance company in Jinan, Shandong province, and also learned to be a music conductor under the company's head.