Music injects vitality into remote village

It is rare to see foreigners playing Chinese folk music in a remote village in the country, but a five-member Ukrainian band has become popular in a village in Hebei province. Zhouwo village is located in Wuqiang, a state-level impoverished county.

The five Ukrainian musicians arrived in November, at the invitation of an art school, to teach local residents to play musical instruments. They work part-time playing in a village coffee shop.

Bogdan Kozub, 25, plays saxophone and is the youngest member of the band. He grew up in Odessa, one of the largest cities in Ukraine, where he began learning to play the saxophone at age 10. This is the first time he has visited a rural area of China and the village and its residents surprised him.