The Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau presents a captivating new series of videos: "Beijing: More Than Meets the Eye". This series of vignettes combine Beijing's well-known tourist attractions and emerging cultural landmarks with young artists, musicians and performers. Together these combine to put Beijing tourism in a whole new light.

The eighth episode of the series Guqin·Sounds of Utmost Antiquity was recently launched.

In 2008, Guqin, the symbolic Chinese musical instrument, made a stunning appearance at the Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games. Tai Gu Yi Yin (Sounds of Utmost Antiquity), the guqin used in the ceremony, is made by Wang Peng, a contemporary Chinese guqin master. It’s a replica of Shi kuang-style qin, based on documents from the Tang Dynasty. Now it is among the permanent collection of the Guqin Museum of Juntianfang Guqin Art Center in Daxing, Beijing, China. Juntianfang Guqin Art Center where this episode was shot is a multi-purpose art center focusing on guqin production, performance, research, education, international exchange and aesthetic space design.

As one of the oldest plucked instrument, guqin produces musical notes via strings and wooden soundbox. With a history of over 3,000 years, it was listed as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2003. A typical guqin making process include the following steps: Finding Woods, Shaping Boards, Hollowing Out, Joining the Upper and Base Boards, Lacquer Cement, Sanding, Hui Positioning, Finish Lacquer, Attaching Goose Feet, and Putting on Strings. The acoustic properties of the guqin is defined by its style and craftmanship.