Dai Endou plays the cucurbit flute for customers at his musical instrument store in the old town area of Phoenix. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Duan Xuelian]

The king of cucurbit flute

Dai Endou, 72, insists that playing the cucurbit flute is just his hobby, but the hobby has made the old man a star in numerous TV programs on Chinese culture and earned him the name "king of the cucurbit flute." In his small shop in Phoenix town, he displays an array of handmade traditional musical instruments such as bamboo flutes, pan pipes, and the Xun, an egg-shaped, often six-holed wind instrument made of pottery, which dates back to primitive times.

Dai is self-taught, and his favorite is the cucurbit flute, which he says is the sound of nature. Unlike the sharp sound of the bamboo flute, the cucurbit flute is soft and far-reaching. Dai's musical instruments were sold overseas, although a large number of his customers do not know the trick of playing these historical ethnic instruments and bought them only as travel keepsakes.

One giant cucurbit flute is placed in a position of honor in Dai's shop - he plays it only when he performs at local festivities. He says playing the instruments keeps him in a good mood, and has many apprentices, mostly college students, from different parts of China.

Dai has always wished to open several chain stores in big cities. To him, that would be an effective way to keep these musical art forms alive and widely-known.