A group of primary students from Jiangyin perform erhu at the opening ceremony in Jiangyin Grand Theater on Aug 18. [Photo/cn-imc.com]

The fourth Dunhuang Cup Chinese Erhu Performance Competition was held in Jiangyin city in Wuxi on Aug 18-22.

As one of the leading erhu competitions in China, this year's competition attracted about 2,000 participants from home and abroad, over 1,300 of whom arrived at Jiangyin to compete for awards.

The erhu is a tradition string bow instrument, sometimes known in the West as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle.

The lights of the opening ceremony lit up Jiangyin Grand Theater on Aug 18. A number of erhu masters and young players performed together to give the audience a fantastic audio-visual feast, which was also broadcast live to erhu lovers all over the world.

Organizers said all the competitions, divided into 13 groups, will be broadcast online as well, aiming to ensure the competition was evenhanded and to show the world how erhu is developing in China.

A number of erhu masters and young players perform together to give the audience a fantastic audio-visual feast in Jiangyin Grand Theater on Aug 18. [Photo/cn-imc.com]

Jiangyin is well-known as the hometown of Liu Tianhua (1895-1932), one of China's greatest erhu composers and performers. Liu died young at the age of 37, but he nevertheless made a great impact on the country's music and cultural scene.

Throughout his life, Liu passionately advocated the popularization of traditional Chinese music in society.

As part of the Dunhuang Cup Chinese Traditional Instruments Competition, the erhu performance competition is held every three years.

Marking the 10th anniversary of the Dunhuang Cup, the organizers have hosted overseas competitions in Japan and Singapore for the first time.