Corner street musical instrument repair shop becomes a popular site for visitors in Shanghai

Photo shows the musical instrument repair store operated by Feng Shuncheng in Shanghai. (Chinanews.com/Kang Yuzhan)

Covering only 10 square meters, the musical instrument repair shop operated by Feng Shuncheng has become well known in Shanghai and even a must-see site for foreign tourists visiting the city.

In the store where more than 100 musical instruments belonging to Feng are stored, the 73-year-old who has remained dedicated to the job for 22 years has brought more than 10,000 instruments back to life with his magical hands.

“I care less about how many orders I receive, but more about fixing the instruments as much as I can,” said Feng, saying that he sees the business as a source of pleasure.

Feng cultivated an interest in repairing instruments under the influence of his father when he was a primary school student. He got a foot in the music industry’s door when he was young. After learning to play and repair musical instruments abroad for a couple of years, Feng began to devote himself to the tasks of maintaining musical instruments at home. In 1999, he opened his own repair shop.

“At first, I was known only by people within my industry, such as musicians at Paramount, Shanghai’s iconic night club and dance hall. For some time, I made a living mainly by repairing fax machines and cordless telephones, since few people came to me to have their instruments fixed. It was not until I opened the shop when I started to receive more orders for musical instrument maintenance,” Feng said.

Feng once repaired a violin for a little girl, who did not own the instrument but had broken it accidentally. He was told by the girl that the violin belonged to her late grandfather, who had regarded the instrument as a treasure because it was a gift to him from a German colleague of his. The little girl had blamed herself a lot and felt heartbroken because of the incident.

“The girl said she was told by other craftsmen that the violin was unrepairable. When she came to me, I gave her an affirmative answer,” Feng recalled. After more than one month of maintenance, he eventually brought the violin back to life. “The girl played the violin right after I gave it to her, with tears in her eyes,” Feng recalled, while saying that his job is in fact significant as he can help people repair not only broken instruments, but tokens of precious memories from their lives.