Mastering the instruments of fate

A capital idea

They played music in Zhejiang for three years until, in 2011, an investor, Mu Pengju, along with Professor Chen Guan from Renmin University of China, rendered their assistance. With Mu's investment, each member was able to earn 3,800 yuan per month for 10 full years, enabling them to enjoy basic living conditions; Chen organized performances for them in middle schools, universities and communities, as well as at embassies and his own classes.

With the investment, and the popularity they gained with Chen's help, the band started making more money. They even established accounts on domestic video-sharing apps, garnering hundreds of thousands of followers. "At first it was only 2,000," Liu recalls, "then it suddenly rose to 8,000, then 80,000, then 150,000－within 10 minutes. At first I tried to reply to every comment, but I couldn't because there were so many. I thought to myself that this must be what it is like to be a celebrity."

Difficult times returned with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as many opera houses closed their doors, unable to provide them with performance opportunities.

"At the most difficult period, we even considered disbanding," Zhong says. "Then we saw the golden opportunity of performing online, via livestreaming."

At first Zhong just took the microphone home and used a smartphone to do the broadcast, but soon they discovered that some viewers were sending them money. He realized that this could be a new business model and, since April, the whole team has participated in the venture.

They opened multiple personal accounts, so that each member can host solo livestreams after their group performance, which has created a livestreaming matrix with regular interactions. In the second half of last year, the frequency of their online performances exceeded that of their peak offline output in 2019. Their influence has grown too, as an increasing number of companies want to sponsor their performances. Now, each of the ensemble's members are earning in excess of 10,000 yuan a month from both the band and their own performances.