Qintai Grand Theatre

The Qintai Grand Theatre, completed in 2007 on the Hanyang shore of the Han River, takes its name from the ancient site of Qintai — traditionally identified as the place where the legendary musician Yu Boya played and met the woodcutter who became his only true listener. The building is a striking piece of contemporary architecture, with a curved roof and lakefront position that fits reasonably well with the landscape, and houses the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra and hosts touring productions and concerts.

The cultural centre around the theatre includes a park with a large bronze statue of Yu Boya at the guqin and a smaller memorial to Zhong Ziqi. The story they commemorate — the idea of zhiyin, the person who truly understands another's inner world — is one of the foundational concepts of Chinese friendship and cultural life, and the site has been a place of pilgrimage for generations of musicians and poets. A pleasant walk connects Qintai to the Han River confluence and Tortoise Hill.

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A story
Qintai — "the stage of the qin" — takes its name from a Han dynasty story about the musician Yu Boya, who played his guqin here on the banks of what is now the Han River. A woodcutter named Zhong Ziqi happened to hear him and understood the music's inner meaning perfectly. When Ziqi died, Yu Boya smashed his instrument, saying there was no longer anyone worthy to hear him play. The story gave Chinese culture its defining expression for a friend who truly understands you: zhiyin — one who knows the sound.