Suona master livestreams her craft

When the sky grows dark in Bolin village, Anhui province, 55-year-old Zhou Haiyan starts to play suona, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, in front of her phone to livestream her performance to the audience. Her performance usually attracts millions of viewers every night, with peak concurrent online viewers reaching 30,000, according to China News Service.

Her excellent performances have received a lot attention, which enables a related topic to trend on Sina Weibo, a twitter-like platform, on Tuesday, stating: "Seemingly ordinary rural lady is extraordinary in playing suona."

Born in Bolin, Zhou Haiyan began learning to play suona at an age of 6 and started performing with an ensemble at the age of 9. With a history of over 100 years, the Zhou family suona ensemble, to which Zhou Haiyan belongs, is one of the most prestigious suona ensembles of Bolin's suona community, The Zhou family suona ensemble was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2014.

As the fifth-generation successor of the Zhou family suona ensemble and having been playing suona for 46 years, Zhou's exquisite techniques in playing suona is widely recognized at home and abroad. Zhou performed on a hit TV show "Avenue of the Stars" on China Central Television, the state broadcaster, and she was also invited to perform abroad with the Zhou family suona ensemble.

Enjoying a huge popularity in locals, Zhou and her ensemble used to get invited to perform at all kinds of important occasions and ceremonies. During the busiest times, she wasn't able to return home for a month, often playing until midnight. Sometimes, after a performance, she would be stopped on the street by enthusiastic fans who insisted on hearing one more tune from her. Reflecting on these experiences, Zhou feels happy and proud.

However, in recent years, the fast-developing society and technology has left Zhou in a awkward situation. And the opportunities for performances have become fewer and fewer. This made Zhou, who has dedicated her life to playing the suona, feel lost. Most of the young people in the village choose to work outside, and Zhou has once also considered changing her profession. But once thinking she might have to put aside suona, her life passion, Zhou decided to stay in Bolin and safeguard the art of Bolin suona.

After hearing the suggestion of her younger brother, Zhou decided to upload short videos and start livestreaming on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tiktok. Her calm and unpretentious style combined with her exceptional skills soon attracted a large number of viewers. Starting in April 12 and within three months the livestreams gained her over 500,000 followers on Douyin.

Followers praise her as a "hidden guru" and describe her as being a "ceiling of folk suona masters", a term used to describe a specialist exceptional in a certain field just like the ceiling at the highest level and being the upper limit of a room.

Live streaming has set a new stage for Zhou Haiyan. The monthly income through livestreaming has relieved her financial worries. She now has more confidence to continue playing suona and passing it down to future generations.

During livestreams, she always fulfills the song-requests from her audience. Initially scheduled for two hours, she often has to extend the livestream to over three hours. Despite the fatigue, Zhou Haiyan continues playing because the audience loves to listen to her.

Despite her popularity, Zhou still works diligently, tending to the fields during the day and playing the suona in the evening. She is not an eloquent person, and a bit shy in front of the camera, but when she raises her suona, she is full of confidence. After each composition, as she receives the audience's praise, she would bow with both hands folded in front to salute to her audiences.

When asked how long she will continue playing the suona, Zhou Haiyan says, "As long as there are viewers, I will keep playing, until the day I can no longer play it."