Zhou Yiwen, deputy director of the social culture training center at the provincial culture center, was in charge of running the program. She also personally gave music lectures in Yinkeng village, located in Tianhuangping town, Anji county.

Zhou had to drive for nearly four hours to each class. However, she still wished she could do more when she saw how reluctant the children were to leave when class was over. According to Zhou, rural parents in Zhejiang desire a strong art education for their children, as reflected in a survey conducted by the culture center in 2017. However, rural schoolchildren have much less opportunity to receive art training compared with their city peers.

Zhou Yiwen, deputy director of the social culture training center at the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center, gives a music lecture to schoolchildren in Tianhuangping town, Anji county, Huzhou. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

After the program concluded in September with the start of fall classes, the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center received highly positive feedback from around 500 parents whose children attended the music classes. "In view of this, we are already making plans to continue the music teaching program next summer," said Gu Jiong, deputy director of the provincial culture center.

"The in-person music lectures can only be attended by so many people. That's why we have recently started to record online lectures so that all rural children can participate, free of charge," said Wang Buwei, another deputy director of the center.

The culture centers in many Zhejiang cities, such as Ningbo and Quzhou, are exploring their own ways of opening long-term nonprofit music classes targeting rural areas.

A volunteer gives a music lecture at the Beigu village cultural hall in Luoyang town, Taishun county, Wenzhou. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]