The keys to success

While learning to play the piano remains as popular as ever among Chinese children, the reasons for doing so are continually evolving, Zhou Wenting reports in Shanghai.

Girls, with their hair tied tidily into buns, wore elegant white or red bubble skirts, a Chinese symbol of good luck and celebration. The boys were all decked out in suits with meticulously ironed shirts and cute bow ties.

If it were not for a few of the children flapping their fingers on their laps - which had become imaginary keyboards upon which they were practicing their pieces for the last time before coming up to the stage - it's possible that onlookers would wonder if they were getting ready to attend a royal ball.