The Nayun Band performs at the closing ceremony of the 6th Wushan Shennv Cup Art Film Week on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Yin Shiyu/Visual Chongqing)

Chongqing - During the 6th Wushan Shennv Cup Art Film Week, the Nayun Band performed on stage on November 24.

The band is made up of students and their teacher from Shiyin Village, Wushan County in Chongqing. The guitarist, Zhang Yaqi, is 8 years old, the bassist, Wang Zuxian, is 11, and the drummer, Wang Ziru, is also 11. Their lead vocalist is their teacher, Zhuang Jiyu.

Shiyin Village is located at an elevation of over 1,100 meters. In the past, the villagers mainly relied on coal mining for their livelihood. After the coal mines were shut down, many young adults left the village to work elsewhere. The children who remained had little contact with the outside world and were generally quite introverted.

The story of how these shy rural children became connected with music began when Zhuang Jiyu, a graduate in primary education from Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, arrived to teach at Shiyin Village Primary School.

Shiyin Village Primary School is seen on December 11, 2024. (Photo by Yin Shiyu/Visual Chongqing)

Strings strummed kids' hearts

In September 2021, Zhuang Jiyu was assigned to teach at Shiyin Village Primary School. Located in a mountainous area with steep slopes, Shiyin Village is 40 kilometers away from the county's downtown, requiring more than an hour's drive. Surrounded by mountains, the village school has only a cement basketball court. With six grades and a kindergarten class, there are just around 40 students in total.

Coming from the city to the countryside, Zhuang felt a sense of contrast. What troubled him even more was how to connect with these children.

The students would stare at this teacher from beyond the mountains with wide eyes during lessons. And whenever Zhuang tried to engage with them, even with just a glance, the children would shy away, their eyes darting in different directions.

"These children have no toys. Their only entertainment is playing basketball on the playground or chasing each other in the fields," Zhuang said.

One day, during recess, he saw the students playing basketball and decided to join them, hoping to bridge the gap. "But to my surprise, they stopped playing and just stood staring at me. Some even lowered their heads as if they had done something wrong."

Shiyin Village once had a coal mining industry, but the mines closed down in recent years, and most young adults left to work elsewhere. The children left behind had little contact with the outside world. They rarely saw their parents and had become introverted and shy, longing for affection but afraid of attention.

How could we get closer to them and open their hearts? Zhuang thought of music.

During university, he had played in a band and performed at various music festivals, being a "rock youth." Naturally, he brought his guitar with him to Shiyin Village. The rural school had few extracurricular activities, so Zhuang volunteered to start a guitar club and introduced his "old companion" to the students.

The club's activity was held on the playground. The students sat in a circle, and Zhuang stood in the center with his guitar, singing and playing for them.

"Mr. Zhuang, you're just like the stars on TV!" the children laughed heartily, clapping in rhythm. Some of them eagerly stared at the guitar, wanting to try, but their hands hovered midway and then retreated.

"Do you want to try playing it?" Zhuang noticed their hesitation.

"We can't," they said, half-shyly, half-joyfully, looking at each other.

"It's okay, let's just try to make a sound first," Zhuang reassured them.

One brave student raised his hand and stepped forward, strumming the guitar strings. The guitar immediately responded with a clear, bright sound, which startled him, and he quickly covered the strings with his hand, causing the other students to burst into laughter.

"The sound just now came from the body of the guitar," Zhuang began to teach them music theory. "The guitar has six strings, and each string corresponds to different positions on the fretboard. Pressing down on different positions while strumming the strings will produce different sounds."

Under Zhuang's guidance, more and more students gathered the courage to strum the strings. The sounds they made were either clear, muffled, or produced a buzzing noise.

The children played their first notes in life, and the seeds of music were quietly planted in their hearts.

A girl practices under Zhuang's guidance. (Photo by Yin Shiyu/Visual Chongqing)

Music band formed

After the guitar club was established, many children developed a passion for the instrument. Their parents were supportive as well, and those with better financial conditions spent tens or even hundreds of yuan to buy guitars.

Low-quality guitars not only have poor sound and unstable tuning, but their string height is often too high, making the strings stiff like a bowstring. When the children practiced, their fingertips would turn red from pressing the strings.

Despite these challenges, after a semester of hard practice, these children were able to play a song, Childhood, completely on these guitars. Zhuang posted a video of their performance online, which drew the attention of people from all walks of life, including the vice principal of Wushan Middle School.

When Wushan Middle School learned that these children lacked instruments, in March 2023, It organized a fundraising campaign among students, raising 30,000 yuan ($4,117.68) for Shiyin Village Primary School.

With the funds, Zhuang purchased 20 acoustic guitars and a bass, drum kit, electric guitars, and other instruments. He placed these instruments in a small rehearsal room where the children could practice during their spare time.

Kids practice under Zhuang's guidance. (Photo by Yin Shiyu/Visual Chongqing)

One day, while riding his motorcycle down the mountain, Zhuang saw a breathtaking sea of clouds. It reminded him of the lines by Tang Dynasty poet Li He, which depict the youthful heart aspiring to grasp the clouds, yet who will consider the cold and sorrow of sitting alone in the gloom? These lines reflect both the high aspirations of youth and the reality of facing challenges. 

Inspired by this, Zhuang got a name for a band, Nayun (grasp the clouds) Band, hoping that these children from the deep mountains would retain lofty aspirations and a love for life. 

Zhuang began searching for band members: 12-year-old Yi Qi and 11-year-old Wang Zuxian, who like to stay in the rehearsal room during breaks and could play songs coherently, were chosen as the band's guitarist and bassist; 11-year-old Wang Ziru, who had a strong sense of rhythm and could precisely play quarter and eighth notes, became the drummer; and 8-year-old Zhang Yaqi, whose sweet voice and accurate pitch made her the lead vocalist.

In October 2023, the Nayun Band was officially formed.

"The early performances were a total disaster," Zhuang said. The four children played their own parts, and their rhythms didn't align. Whenever they made a mistake, they would shrink their heads into their clothes to apologize.

To make improvements, Zhuang lent his guitar to the three girls after school for practice. Wang Ziru didn't remain idle either—he picked two branches and used them as drumsticks to practice rhythms by beating rocks at home. Gradually, the four of them found their rhythm and learned to cooperate.

On Children's Day this year, Zhuang arranged a special performance where the band played I Remember by Zhao Lei for their families living far away.

The band's young drummer practices the drum kit at home. (Photo by Yin Shiyu/Visual Chongqing)

Have a concert at the film festival

The Nayun Band received an invitation before the National Day holiday. The 6th Wushan Shennv Cup Art Film Week organizers wanted them to perform at the closing ceremony.

This is the only film week in China focused on art films. For the first time, the event included elements like Riverside Concert and Candlelight Concert, with a focus on musical performances.

Upon hearing the news, the children were excited and shouted, "Mr. Zhuang, we're going to perform a concert at the film festival!"

At this point, Yi Qi had already graduated, so Zhang Yaqi stepped in to replace her as the guitarist. Zhuang Jiyu specifically chose the song "Sunflower" and decided to sing it himself as the lead vocalist.

"Mr. Zhuang, can you give me a ticket?" Wang Zuxian privately asked Zhuang before rehearsal. She had a special audience in mind.

Wang Zuxian's mother remarried to Guizhou soon after her birth, and her father was often away. Growing up, she was mostly accompanied by her grandparents and her aunt, Wang Qiong, who worked in the county. Every holiday, Wang Qiong would bring her new clothes and school supplies, and Wang Zuxian wanted her aunt to come and hear the band's "concert."

“Of course!” Zhuang promised.

The Nayun band had less than two months to prepare, so rehearsal time was limited. Due to the short program, Zhuang decided to cut the song’s instrumental break, reducing the difficulty of the performance.

During school rehearsals, the three children were completely unafraid, but in the rehearsal hall for the closing ceremony, drummer Wang Ziru refused to go on stage, and the two girls were so nervous that their hands trembled. The rehearsal was briefly interrupted.

Zhuang asked them to put down their instruments, go up on stage, and stand quietly for a minute. Then, he had them shout again and again, towards the empty seats, "We are the Nayun Band! We are the Nayun Band!" Gradually, the children gained confidence.

On November 24, at the closing ceremony of the 6th Wushan Shennv Cup Art Film Week, the Nayun Band took the stage at the Wushan Sports Center to the applause of over 2,000 spectators.

As Zhuang's voice filled the air, the children smoothly joined in, keeping perfect time with the melody.

Perhaps out of excitement, Zhuang accidentally played the instrumental break that he had originally decided to cut after the chorus. A wave of tension washed over him. To his surprise, the three children seamlessly picked up the accompaniment. When the performance ended, the audience erupted into thunderous applause.

In the days that followed, Zhuang watched the performance video. As he saw the children moving freely on stage, fully immersed in their performance, he felt immense pride and satisfaction: these "sunflowers" had indeed blossomed!

(Su Chang and Yin Shiyu, reporters from Chongqing Daily, contributed the Chinese version of this report.)