Dongxiao makes his English debut on youtube

[Blue]

[phillipr]

This is very exciting! I've been hoping Master Donsiau would do some videos in English for some time now. Do you think perhaps we could convince him to do some basic technique instruction videos in English as well?

[Blue]

Well he does have his official facebook site:
www.facebook.com/groups/liaoson/

As well as his youtube site:
www.youtube.com/user/donsiau?feature=watch

More feedback on those sites from international friends and fans would certainly encourage him to produce more material in English (or maybe English captions would be another option). Based on my single meeting with him, he's really a very approachable person and certainly isn't snobbish. He always feels touched when he sees one more person on the planet interested in playing the xiao.

He does have a forum in his own personal website, which he constantly references on facebook. For instance, I asked him on facebook about his experiences on making left-handed xiaos, and he posted a link from his website forum about it. Unfortunately for the non-Chinese understanding audience, it's in Chinese.

[dragona]

good job,well done,guys,just go on it.best wishes!

[davidmdahl]

Good videos! The xiaos he plays appear to sound much better than the xiaos commonly available. Does he make his good xiaos for sale?

Best wishes,

David

[Blue]

On his facebook page, Dongsiau mentions that he does not "mass produce" his xiaos. He makes limited quantities and handcrafts each of them. He also likes to make a lot of experimental xiaos (yes, his home has a spectrum analyzer and a complicated frequency analysis software tool).

Although he says that he does not make his xiao for profit, he can charge a hefty sum. Expect to pay at least US$500 per xiao (gasp)! There's a lifetime warranty for his xiaos. Still, he personally told me that he knew an Asian doctor living in the US who sent a friend as a courier to pick up the purchased xiao because the doctor was afraid that it might get accidentally damaged by mail: that's how much certain people love his xiaos!

Also, he loves guests from all walks of life to visit him. You can subscribe to www.facebook.com/groups/liaoson/ on facebook to see what I mean.

You can find his contact information at donsiau.net/winson.htm if your budget permits purchasing his xiao.

What could really be fun is if we could find some rich patron to help ship one of his jumbo xiaos for exhibition in the US or in London . . . . . . .

[Blue]

And I actually visited him last year . . . . . but the cost of the xiao was beyond my budget . . . . . . if I earned more than US$100,000 per year, then maybe I wouldn't mind and splurge for one.