The musical drama Guitar Guitar was performed by the Guizhou Song and Dance Theatre on Dec 20 in Guiyang, Guizhou province.

Musical drama Guitar Guitar [Photo by Li Hanyi/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guitar Guitar tells the story of a Guizhou businessman trying to develop a local guitar industry. Tian Yuan, the main protagonist, resigned from his job in a big city and established a ukulele factory in his hometown of Zheng’an county, Guizhou province. Making use of e-commerce, Tian Yuan was able to successfully promote his brand and export his guitars worldwide. Enormous public demand for guitars also helped to create local jobs and alleviate poverty.

Musical drama Guitar Guitar [Photo by Li Hanyi/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guitar Guitar is based on the true story of a group of entrepreneurs in Zheng’an county who, since 2013, have started establishing factories to innovate and produce guitars.

"The musical drama really takes me back," Zhao Shan told China Daily. At the age of 32, Zhao Shan is already the general manager of Guizhou Beijiaer Instruments Co Ltd. After working in the internet industry for eight years, Zhao Shan came back to his hometown of Zheng'an county and created a guitar company, which is now located in Zheng'an's international guitar industrial park.

Selling more than 3,400 guitars every day, Zhao Shan's company cooperates with online shopping platforms like Tmall and JD. "The huge demand means more profit and more demand for guitar manufacturers. More and more locals are starting to seek jobs in the guitar manufacturing industry in their hometown, which offers a decent salary, rather than working in another city," said Zhao Shan.

Zhao Shan, general manager of Guizhou Beijiaer Instruments and inspiration for Guitar Guitar [Photo by Li Hanyi/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

So far, the county has developed more than 20 guitar brands. In 2017, Zheng'an produced 5.06 million guitars, valued at 5 billion yuan ($72 million). The instruments have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions, including America and South Asia, making up nearly one-third of all guitar exports in China.

Li Hanyi contributed to this story