This small Chinese town strums the right chord to be world's largest guitar hub

Screen Grab from YouTube (China Matters)

In a small town in the southwest of China's Guizhou province, life chords itself with guitar.

Zheng'an is today the largest producer of guitars in the world with 6 million instruments created every year and exporting to over 30 countries and regions. The Guitar City Magazine says about 20 percent of China’s exported guitars are made in Zheng’an.

Screen Grab from YouTube (China Matters)

But this was not the story 10 years back. Zheng’an was impoverished and its guitar industry was teetering on the edge. A severe job crisis had forced locals to leave home and seek employment opportunities elsewhere.

"Some 60,000 of locals were working in the guitar industry. So the local government decided to draw in these guitar factories," a report in China Matters said.

Support from the local administration tuned up Zhen'gan to an unprecedented high within a decade. Some 111 companies have taken root in Zheng’an today, providing job opportunities for the locals in the thriving guitar industry.

Zhao Jianfeng, the founder of Natasha Guitar. Screen Grab from YouTube (China Matters)

Zhao Jianfeng, the founder of Natasha Guitar, is one of the many factory owners who decided to make Zheng'an his central hub for manufacturing. His factory employs more than a 100 locals, crafting his own unique brand of manufacturing guitar out of bamboo.

"I believe we are the first company in the world to make guitar completely out of bamboo," Jianfeng tells China Matters. "Lumber wood is a finite resource now, so we wanted to try something new. After trying different ideas, we found that bamboo actually produced a really good sound for guitars."

But, it's not been long since Jianfeng came to Zheng'an. In 2018, he was based in the Huadu district of Guangzhou in the Guangdong province. "When we were in Guangzhou, we were spending 1.3 million yuan per year on renting factories, he says.

The Zheng'an administration framed new policies to attract business to the town. "Rent was free for three years and it was at 50 percent off for the next two years, says Jianfeng.

Cost was not saved on overheads alone. Since there are many companies making the guitars in Zheng'an, it helped Jianfeng save on his shipping cost as well. "When we first came to Zheng'an, we still had to ship our guitar cases over to Guangzhou. But now we can get them from the factory right across the street. This helps us saving the shipping costs," he says.

As China became the world's the largest producer of guitars, Jianfeng felt there must be an exclusive brand of its own  that Chinese consumers an choose from. "We can sell better quality guitars at lower prices," he says.

From guitars made of bamboo to personalised hand-crafted guitars, this town of Zheng'an has a lot to offer. The China Matters report adds that the factory-made guitars are not the only part of story here.

Zhang Weiyi, founder of Guitar Luthier. Screen Grab from YouTube (China Matters)

There are many musicians who need a handmade guitar for a unique sound and style. For them, Zhang Weiyi, founder of Guitar Luthier, is a master in hand-crafted guitars.

Being in the field for three decades, Weiyi has become one of the biggest names in China, the report said.

While explaining the sounds and shapes, he says that to get a warmer, soft sound in the guitar, one needs to carve the brace into a rounder shape. "For a sharp crisp sound, a more rigid shape needs to be created," he says. "Even a small shape can affect the sound of the guitar."

The sound of the guitar is created by a combination of the brace, the back and the internal shape of the guitar body. The shapes of these elements have a big effect on the sound produced.

There are almost a hundred different steps in making the guitar and every step in the process influences the sound. So, attention to details is the important aspect while making a hand-crafted guitar, he says.

It takes at least 100 days to make a guitar. And it doesn't even include the time for communicating with the client. "Just to figure out what kind of guitar someone wants can take up half a year because the client sometimes doesn't know what he wants," Weiyi says. "I have to talk to them as I need to understand their taste and style."

Sometimes clients require a specific but tricky kind of sound. One of his clients who was a professor wanted a warmer, softer sound, but also wanted it sharp. "It is possible to make guitar with two sounds together," he says.

Seeing the passion and dedication of the guitar manufacturers, it is clear that in Zheng’an, the guitars go beyond just being a sound, it's a lifeline of these people and also for the young ones.