Sound of China Guzheng Music Promotion Center

What a great place! Went to buy a beginners Erhu. A nice man helped me out, letting me try different grades of Erhu. He even let my 9 year old daughter try one out. Lots of great instruments from beginner to advanced. I was in and out in fifteen minutes with my set up erhu, case and accessories (all included in the price). I would absolutely go there again. Its fun just to look at all the cool instruments!

I ordered their guzheng online and received my guzheng in a cardbox with no padding whatsoever except for the soft carrying case which is really soft. Needless to say I found multiple defects, including two broken bridges. For some reason their bridges are stuffed into the instrument’s side box, not mailed in a box with Styrofoam for padding. The method of preping their boxes for shipping is terrible and they just expect the shipping company to reimburse them for broken instruments, while troubling their customers, who need the instruments and must now go through an irritating return process. I am just so disgusted by the company.

Sound of China probably does have the largest selection of Asian instruments for the Los Angeles regions. However, I can honestly tell you, I don’t really think the guzheng that she sells are good of quality as the owner Carol tends to emphasize. I am a guzheng player myself so I knew what I was coming here for.
I never met the owner or have prior experience purchasing an instrument from her. I am writing this review from a first impression standpoint.
When I first walked in here anticipating that I was going to buy a guzheng, my impression of this place was that there was a large selection of the instruments. The owner didn’t seem that friendly as most of these other’s reviews say. The owner spoke in such monatone way that the ambience vibe she gave me seem very uninviting and unfriendly. I don’t think she even bothered asking what was my name when I first came in even though that is usually the first thing you usually ask when you’re meeting someone for the first time. Perhaps, if you spoke in Chinese Mandarin or you knew her well, you would get a sense of her friendlier side. However, for someone that she never met, you get a totally different vibe.
As much as it was difficult to speak to her in person, I thought maybe her guzheng that she sells would make up for her less people skills. I thought it made sense to get a travel size guzheng as it would be convenient for me for travel. As she showcased me the types of travel size guzhengs she had available and played a few songs to me to showcase the tone and sound of the guzheng exudes out, I was quite certain that I would love it when I brought it home. When I arrived home, I played it for a few hours and I knew right then and there, the sound of the guzheng (Praising Lotus travel size) for $ 298 that the store market as their signature instrument product of Sound of China, it just didn’t deliver the sound that I was expecting. I should have not put so much high expectation on the instrument as it is cheaply made and cheap. Downfall about travel size guzheng is that it never usually exude the same type of sound that a standard guzheng would do.
Another reason why I wasn’t satisfied with my purchase was the guzheng she sold me has some flaws (damage) on it that I have observed. There were damage on the top side of the soundboard that I assume that the guzheng has been hit on by some hard object (like the floor when the guzheng are stand up against the wall) and there was also a deep crack/​cut within the soundboard. I would understand that there will be flaws on the instrument because it is cheaply made, but I think for anyone telling others of that they’re made of high quality standard. It really made me feel if I can really trust her credibility if I ever plan on purchasing a higher end guzheng from her in the future. I probably wouldn’t be able to given the chance. You’re better off going to someone else.

I bought a Guzheng from here (i’m in N. Cal) based on my teacher’s recommendation and my own research. This store has a great selection of Guzheng and accessories. The prices are very reasonable. But most importantly, the owner plays Guzheng herself and is enthusiastic to promote Guzheng and Chinese instrumental music in general. She also knows about the pros/​cons of each kind from a player point of view. I highly recommend this place.

This store has a very wide range of guzheng instruments for sale, from beginner to professional, all high quality, all very reasonably priced. I got my first intermediate level guzheng from here and I am one happy customer. Once I am more experienced with the instrument, I plan on coming back to buy a higher end model for advanced players. The store has also started offering group and private guzheng lessons, along with private erhu and guqin lessons. This is definitely the place to go for all of your traditional Chinese music needs.
Carol, the owner of the store, is very friendly and helpful, primarily wants to promote the traditional music of the guzheng rather than making a profit off you. She even has uploaded lessons and tutorials on her store’s website and on youtube to help beginners. On top of that, Carol is also running a forum for guzheng players to ask questions and to seek advice about technique, different guzheng models, guzheng music, etc. So you can see, she really is a true guzheng enthusiast and wants to share and spread the joy of this traditional instrument (along with other traditional Chinese music).

An amazing place. It’s so hard just to find these instruments yet alone get to see them in person, play, and hear them played by a master (Carol).
Very fair prices too as they seem more concerned with education than huge profits.
I got a a travel size (51″) guzheng that sounds amazing!
They also have training videos and text online to help you out.
Very, very cool!

I was searching for a guqin and came across this store. When, I came, I was really pleased at how welcoming the owner Carol was. She allowed me to spend hours trying out the different instruments and was happy to also play them for me so I could hear the differences.
I ended up purchasing a guzheng at a great price. In general, if you compare their prices with what is available online (not even counting shipping), the prices are excellent. I would not hesitate recommending this store. In fact, I am now thinking about buying a pipa here.

Sound of China has probably the largest showroom and supply of gu zhengs in the east SGV area! They don’t mess around… their gu zhengs are made with differing caliber ranges. Oddly enough, I first found them on ebay when I was looking for a cheap way to purchase the instrument.
You can start out as cheap as $ 300-​$ 400 for beginners. Or if you’re pro, they have gu zhengs in the thousands. Typically based on the type of wood, how large it is, the construction, # of strings …
I actually got a $ 400 rosewood one which would’ve cost $ 600 -$ 700 but because it had a few minor scratches they sold it to me for less. Which worked out for me because the sound definitely resonated better with the rosewood.
Check out their website — they have lots of tips on how to pick a gu zheng and just overall very very informative.
And they have festivals to showcase their instruments. Salespersons speak English and Mandarin… for any Asian kids with Mandarin only parents who will be forking over the money.
They also suggest music teachers to you, which was how I found Cynthia!