Beijing Qinshu (běi jīng qín shū 北京琴书) is a form of ballad-singing originated with farmers who liked to sing stories in their spare time. No professionals practiced the art until the mid-19th century. In Beijing's rich tradition of musical storytelling, Beijing Qinshu may not be the best-known genre, but it is probably one that is most characteristic of Beijing.

The singing is usually accompanied by dulcimer (yáng qín 扬琴), but now sanxian (sān xián 三弦), and sihu (sì hú 四胡a four-stringed instrument) are sometimes added. The art is popular in Beijing and Tianjin.

For over half a century, Beijing Qinshu has almost been an art of one man Guan Xuezeng, the founder and most famous performer of this form of musical storytelling.

Born in a poor Manchu family in Beijing, Guan had only two years' primary education before he had to drop out to help support the family. He had been a vendor, porter and underage worker when he was only 11. The Manchu people have a long tradition for quyi (a general term for various local folk performing arts in which speech, chanting or both are used). Influenced by his mother and aunt, Guan often listened to the radio programs of quyi in the street, and sometimes he went to teahouses where quyi performances were held. Because he was a small boy, teahouses didn't charge him.

After the founding of New China in 1949, Guan and his yangqin accompanist Wu Changbao reformed the melodic and rhythmic patterns of Danqin Dagu and renamed it Beijing Qinshu, which means Beijing's storytelling with dulcimer.

In Guan's career, he has sung over 1,000 works of Beijing Qinshu in about 20,000 performances. Having told stories throughout his life, his own life has become a story that reflects the fluctuating history of modern China.

Guan's last student, 38-year-old Wang Shucai, is practically the only professional performer of Beijing Qinshu now.