Across China: A Chinese county’s violins go global-Xinhua
ZHENGZHOU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A knife turns gently against a scroll taking shape in a workshop. The craftsman blows softly, sending fine shavings dancing in a ray of sunlight, and the air is filled with the scent of spruce and maple. The scene could easily belong in Cremona, Italy. Yet it is unfolding in Queshan, a county of about 374,500 people in central China's Henan Province that has quietly become one of the world's major sources of handmade violins. The craft originated in 16th-century Italy and spread across the globe by the 18th century. In the 1980s, villagers from Queshan joined the tide of migrant workers heading to faraway cities. Many found jobs in violin factories in Beijing. Over the years, they built a reputation as master craftsmen. Some even ran their own workshops. ...