Area's melodious history attracts top talent from across the country to compose quality works

Many people are aware of the Voyager 1 probe, sent into space by NASA in 1977. But very few know that aboard the probe was a gold-plated music record carrying music as a gift to any extra terrestrial entities that might be out there in the deep, black void of space.

One of the musical arrangements that were carried on the probe was Liushui, or flowing water, composed by Zhang Kongshan, a guqin (Chinese seven-stringed zither) artist when he was in Chengdu.

The spirit of that piece and of music in general has thrived in Chengdu for hundreds of years.

Today, the city is host of the Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music, one of China's top awards for talented musicians and singers.