The first time that Guo Mingxuan saw a pipa in the home of her music teacher Chen Yu, she was 6 years old and she was impressed by the 2,000-year-old four-stringed musical instrument. To her the pear-shaped plucked instrument looked exquisite.

The Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Bai Juyi described the sound of the pipa as "pearls landing on a jade plate". After Chen played Dance of the Yi Ethnic Group, one of the most popular solo compositions for the pipa, Guo was intrigued by the musical instrument's strong expressivity, as well as intricate and delicate tonality.

Guo's long relationship with the pipa had thus begun.

Born and raised in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Guo has been learning the musical instrument ever since that encounter 20 years ago. She studied at Xi'an Conservatory of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. She now teaches at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music.

During the fourth Dunhuang Cup Chinese Pipa Artistic Elite Show, which concluded in February, Guo won the first prize with her performance of the pipa concerto Chun Qiu (Spring and Autumn) composed by Tang Jianping in 1994.

"That piece of music is one of my favorites," said Guo, who took part in the competition for the first time in 2011. "It fully displays the versatility of the pipa."

It was the fourth time she had competed in the Dunhuang Cup and the first time she had won top prize. "It felt like a dream coming true. As a young teacher, I am proud to show my students the beauty of the pipa."

The Dunhuang Cup, first held in 2010, is one of the most well-known competitions for those who play traditional Chinese musical instruments. Its aim is to popularize such instruments among young Chinese music learners, said Sun Ruiyong, deputy-director of the China Musical Instrument Association, which organizes the event.

It is open to those who play the pipa, the erhu and the guzheng, and is held for each of the three instruments once every three years. In the first competition in 2010 attracted more than 200 erhu players of various ages.

The fourth Dunghuang Cup pipa competition attracted more than 3,000 competitors from home and abroad who displayed their techniques through rounds of online competition, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the judges were veteran pipa players including Wu Yuxia, director of the pipa committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, Zhang Qiang, a professor of the Central Conservatory of Music, and Li Jingxia, a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

"We have different groups for the competitors, such as professional music players and amateur music players, which aims at getting traditional Chinese music closer to the public," Sun said.

Apart from discovering music talent within China, there was also a warm response from overseas, Sun said.

Among the competitors of the fourth Dunghuang Cup pipa competition was Kelly Shi, 19, a Chinese American who performed classic pieces such as Ba Wang Xie Jia (The Warlord Takes off His Armor) and Wei Shui Qing.

Shi, born in Jinan, Shandong province, learned to play the piano when she was little, playing for six months but never really finding a passion for the instrument. From the age of 6 she began learning the pipa and continued doing so even after the family migrated to the United States when she was 12, teaching herself.

The Warlord Takes off His Armor is her favorite pipa piece, she said.

"When I was little I heard the story of Xiang Yu (king of the Western Chu). Although he lost the battle with Liu Bang, he was still a hero. He was very Shakespearean, in fact very similar to Julius Caesar. I especially liked his spirit of never giving up and not being willing to surrender unto death. I think music can convey emotions, and the process of sensing the emotions pleases me."

The pipa is highly inspirational, and she is always keen to learn more with it, she said. "I'm proud of my Chinese background and I really appreciate the opportunity of learning the pipa, which makes me special."

Song Fei, a renowned erhu player who is one of the judges of the erhu competition of the Dunhuang Cup, said the competition has expanded into Japan and Singapore, drawing more and more overseas competitors.

"China has a rich musical heritage, and many of its traditional instruments are now learned by young Chinese music lovers. There are musicians who are keeping the musical tradition alive, arranging and performing original pieces as well as trying to find new sounds for the traditional Chinese musical instruments with crossover collaborations."

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn