Blowing suona is a traditional folk art. In Qinhuangdao City, there are many people who can play suona, but not many people who make suona. 35-year-old Zhang Jiachen is an artist who makes suona. His idea was simple: this old craft must not be lost.

Zhang Jiachen was born in a family of old craftsmen, but this craft is not making suona, but blacksmithing. According to the family, the Zhang family counted upwards. Three or four generations of people made a living by blacksmithing, but Zhang Jiachen didn't like blacksmithing. He loved music since he was a child, and hummed songs wherever he went. When he was in elementary school, Zhang Jiachen joined the school's drum and trumpet team and played the trumpet in it. Since then, he has shown a strong interest in orchestral music. Later, he studied suona for several years with Li Jihai, an old artist in the village.

When he was just learning, Zhang Jiachen could only borrow other people's, he especially wanted a suona of his own. In 2008, he began to learn how to make suona with local suona artist Du Zhiming as his teacher.

Making a suona is not an easy task. Suona consists of five parts: reed, air plate, core, suona rod and suona bowl. The reed is in the shape of a cloth bag and is the shock generator of the suona. It is made of reed. Its material selection and production process directly affect the pronunciation of the suona. The air disc is a circular piece of wood that relieves the pressure and fatigue of the lips during playing. The core is the fuze that connects the reed to the rod, and plays the role of tuning. The pole is the tube body of the suona, and the tube body has 8 sound holes. The suona bowl is the loudspeaker of the suona. It is made of copper sheets through multiple processes, which is the most difficult process in the production of suona.

In order to find suitable reeds, Zhang Jiachen often went to the reed pond to pick them by himself, and he went there for several hours. A pond full of reeds, usually only a few can be used, and only a handful can be picked for several days. "At that time, it was purely handmade, and old scale rods were generally used as poles. Most of the old scale rods in Ming and Qing Dynasties were solid wood, with a large head and a small tail. They were very suitable for poles." Zhang Jiachen said, measure the size first, and take out the old scale rod. Then, burn the iron drill made of the axle red, and burn the desired width little by little. If it is too large, it cannot be used. After digging it out, it needs to be polished. Finally, all these parts are combined together, and a complete suona is completed. Under the guidance of the master, Zhang Jiachen made the first suona, which is still in use today.

Over the years, as a member of the Beijing Shanshui Folk Music Troupe, Zhang Jiachen has been working in Beijing until he returned to his hometown of Changli to settle down a few years ago. Whenever he had time, he would search for old weighing rods and pick reeds to make suona. Now that there are machines, tasks such as evisceration can be replaced by machines, which is much easier than before. In addition to suona, he also plays the piano and sanxian, and composes his own music. Under his influence, his 4-year-old daughter also likes music very much.

Although the price of a suona is about 1,200 yuan, few people buy it, and the shipment volume is very low, which is not enough to support the family at all. However, Zhang Jiachen said that he will not give up this craft. "We cannot let the craftsmanship left by our ancestors be lost here and must be passed on from generation to generation."