What is Sounds of China and how do I use it?

Sounds of China is a radio-style collection of traditional Chinese music and intangible cultural heritage recordings — from the Dong Grand Song to maritime folk ballads.

Getting started

1. Open it from Stories → Sounds of China.
2. A welcome screen introduces the station — press the button to enter the player.

Playing a track

Hit play on any track — the vinyl starts spinning and the station begins. Every track comes with cultural background: where it's from, when it's performed, and why it matters.

The player controls:

• Play / pause — the round control in the centre of the player.
• Previous / next — skip between tracks without touching the playlist.
• Seek bar — drag anywhere on the progress bar to jump to a part of the piece.
• Volume — the speaker icon above the seek bar.
• Share — the share button copies a link to the track you're listening to, so you can send it to a travel companion.

The playlist

• Each entry shows the piece's region and its instrument tags (for example, *Guizhou · Dong Grand Song*), so you know what you're about to hear.
• Click any entry to jump straight to it — the "now playing" marker follows you.
• Tracks flow continuously, radio-style: when one ends, the next begins.

DJ intros and extras

• Each track starts with a short spoken intro explaining the piece before the music begins — helpful when the genre is new to you.
• The deeper culture story behind each piece is linked right on the page — read it before or after listening.

Good ways to use it

• Before your trip: listening to a region's music is the fastest way to feel its atmosphere before you land.
• On the train or plane: build a queue of tracks for the destinations on your route — it's a nice companion to the city guides.
• It's completely free for everyone, like the Stories section.

See it in action

Browsing the radio and playing a track: