The Museum of Piano Island
By staff reporter LU RUCAI
Gulangyu, the island of pianos in southeast Xiamen, has more than 500 pianos. In the island's Shuzhuang Garden is the Gulangyu Piano Museum. Spread out over 2,000 square meters of land, the museum has on exhibit more than 70 pianos from the UK, France, Germany and Austria.
Pianos in Gulangyu Museum are provided by collector Hu Youyi, a native-son of Gulangyu currently residing in Australia. Hu's collection includes old and famous pianos from all around the world -- a grand piano with ivory keys from an English palace, a French street musician's piano, the Broadwood & Sons piano that won a golden medal at Paris International Fair, as well as the one beloved by president Lincoln. His enormous collection is exhibited in two halls of the museum.
Hall No.1 was established in January of 2000, and features the oldest piano in the collection, the Clementi. Made in 1801 by famous pianist Clementi, this piano is a rarity because most pianists do not manufacture pianos. The museum also displays the world's tallest upright piano, made by London's Broadwood & Sons in 1824.
Hall No. 2 illustrates the history of the piano and has exhibits that show the changing process of the piano chord plate, from block to cast-iron, as well as pianos of different periods. The Craig piano, the most precious in the museum, is the only art piano in the world. Inlaid in Australian unbleached timber, the body of the piano is covered in elegant patterns of flowers, birds, fish and insects. Not far from this magnificent instrument is the Haines, an American piano made in 1928. It was the most expensive piano of the time and fully automatic, able to imitate perfectly skills and styles of various well known pianists. Every day at 4 pm, visitors can enjoy its excellent automatic performance.
Address: No.45, Huangyanlu, Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujian, China
Postcode: 361000
Tel: 0592-2060238
Fax: 0592-2570331
E-mail: glygqbwg@sina.com
Exhibition Hours: 8:15-17:15 (including weekends)
Ticket Price: 20 RMB