San Francisco woman keeps Chinese musical traditions alive
SAN FRANCISCO - If you step inside Shangri-La Gifts and Tea Shop along Grant Ave. in San Francisco's Chinatown, you may get greeted with the sound of tradition.
And what you hear echoing from a tiny upstairs studio -- is coming from a twenty-one stringed instrument that was invented during China's Ching Dynasty more than 2,500 years ago, called a guzheng.
Fang Yi learned how to play the instrument while attending China's Central Conservatory of Music. She is now considered a master, and she has the hands to prove it.
"It is not easy to play," Yi said with a smile, while showing off her fingers and wrists. "I have muscles here, here and here too."
Today, she has developed more than just muscles, but also a strong following as the only guzheng instructor in Chinatown, teaching more than 40 students the ancient tradition that she describes as unique.
"When you play, you can make it sound like mountains, rivers, like a girl crying," said Yi. "You are telling a story, and everyone sounds different, because everyone plays from their feelings."
And when she's not teaching, she is downstairs running her tiny shop and practicing another tradition - the art of making tea.
"Different teas, I use in the different ways depending on the weather," said Yi. "It is like how a play the music. it is the same thing because it also comes from the heart."
It is a heart that has always led her back to her Chinese heritage, even as a young girl.
"So, growing up my parents were always surprised," Yi said. "Why does this little girl like the old stuff like tea and music?"
Maybe it's because Fang Yi has an old soul, hoping to keep an old tradition alive for a new generation.
"We have to pass on this tradition, we have to remember the sounds, otherwise the music will disappear," said Yi.