Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    IF you often walk around Lianhua Hill Park or Litchi Park, you may notice an old flutist performing passionately with a small speaker and a microphone. Sometimes he plays alone, and sometimes he plays with several other flutists whom he just meets in the park.

    Zhang Bingdong, 66 years old and retired, says he’s much busier now than when he was working and has a full schedule every day, just for having fun.

    “I am a happy old man. I like playing the flute with friends and I like performing for strangers. I think one should make full use of oneself after retirement and enjoy life,” said Zhang, who was a Party chief of Zhenmei Cattle Farm in Guangming New Area before retirement.

    Lifelong flute lover

    Zhang fell in love with the flute when he was very young.

    “I read a cartoon book and was very impressed with a picture of a cattle-herding boy playing a flute on the back of a cow. I was also a cattle herder at that time, and there was bamboo everywhere in the woods, so I decided to make a flute and create that scene myself,” he said.

    Later, Zhang joined the army.

    “I did not expect that the little skill I taught myself in my spare time would help me get into the army’s song and dance ensemble. Once there, I finally had a chance to receive professional training,” he said.

    After he left the army and came to work in Shenzhen, Zhang found himself too busy to practice his beloved flute.

    “I waited and waited and finally I could spend all my time playing the flute after I retired,” he said.

    He’s developed a passion for playing in public.

    “Elderly people don’t have to pay bus fare in Shenzhen, so I often go to Litchi Park and Lianhua Hill Park to play for audiences. The parks have a lot of people, so I can bring fun to more people,” he said.

    Zhang said he often brings up to eight different types of flutes to parks, where he performs for free. Because of his outstanding skills with different types of flutes, he often attracts a large crowd.

    His small speaker setup includes large amounts of songs and music.

    “I have to listen to it all the time so I can play beautiful music for audiences,” he said. “I like performing for others. It feels so nice. The more audience members there are, the more excited I am.”

    Organizing others

    Zhang said that because it’s not as fun for him to play by himself as it is to play with others, he decided to share his joy and love with people of similar musical passions.

    In 2009, he started playing with several other retired neighbors. The group performed for friends and neighbors.

    Because their performances were so popular in their community, the Cuihu Community Work Station helped them found a band and get a place to practice. They eventually received more than 100,000 yuan (US$16,177) from Guangming New Area, to buy instruments.

    “Because of our growing reputation, more elderly people have joined our band. We practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon,” Zhang said. “It’s great fun.”

    The growing band is often invited to perform at parties and events in the area, and organizes exchanges with other music lovers in Gongming and Guanlan subdistricts.

    “We can learn a lot of things from these performances and exchanges and continuously improve ourselves,” he said.

    In 2012, Zhang jointly founded an ancient instrument association. The registration procedures were finally completed in January.

    “We have 31 members in the association at present. They are retired people and a few students. We want to recruit more young people in the future, to make our association more energetic and wonderful,” Zhang said.

    Zhang has a lot of planning to do for the association.

    “We will buy more soundtracks and hire professional teachers to help improve our skills. I also want to organize more exchange activities and charity performances in the future to meet more people and spread joy to more people,” he said.

    Music and memory

    Zhang has another talent — an outstanding memory. When he is resting in the park after performances, he often invites audience members to test him.

    “I’ve memorized the area codes of more than 300 cities in China, and I can also remember detailed information from major sessions held by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee,” he said.

    Zhang said he discovered his excellent memory when he was about 17.

    “I had to record how many paddies each crew member collected. Normally I weighed more than 20 baskets of paddies all together, and wrote down their weights afterwards. Many people thought that I would make a mistake, but I never made a single mistake when they checked the weights again,” he said.

    Zhang thinks memorizing things keeps him mentally sharp.

    “I can exercise my brain. An old man needs to exercise his brain frequently, otherwise the brain will eventually lose its function,” he joked.

    He can memorize more than 60 telephone numbers from a phone book and often challenges himself to memorize numbers and news articles.

    “It has another advantage. I often encourage my grandson and granddaughter to study hard by competing with our memorization skills. Because of my inspiration, they do outstandingly well at school,” he said.

    I am a happy old man. I think one should make full use of oneself after retirement and enjoy life.”

    — Zhang Bingdong, a 66-year-old flutist who often performs in parks with his band