Man hits right note by playing music with bowls, chopsticks

[Video provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhang Chuang has attracted more than 700,000 fans through online video platforms since his videos about playing music with bowls and chopsticks became hot hits two years ago.

Using about 20 bowls, he can play more than 600 musical works, including classic and popular pieces from home and abroad.

The 31-year-old was born in Jixi city, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. At the age of 13, his father, a coalminer, bought Zhang a drum kit.

"As long as I can remember, my father spent almost all his spare time playing different musical instruments, such as the saxophone, clarinet and electronic keyboard," he said. "I was often immersed in his beautiful music."

"Maybe I have inherited my father's musical talent," he said. "Teaching myself for months, I could perform onstage and became a bit famous in my hometown, but it is not a good choice to make a living with music in such a small city."

After graduating from senior high school, he decided to learn photography from a relative in Chaoyang city in Northeast China's Liaoning province.

"Even though I was quite busy as a photographer, I didn't give up my hobby of playing the drums," he said. "When I happened to watch a video about playing music with bowls on the internet two years ago, I was attracted by this unique musical instrument."

In order to choose the most suitable bowls for playing music, he went to different cities and bought nearly 10,000 bowls in total.

"Finally I chose about 30 bowls that had the best timbre," he said. "And after countless practicing, I became familiar with each of them."

"Bowls are such common objects in our daily life, but I hope to play unique music with bowls and make more people know this art form and enjoy it," he said.