Tang Kangmin, a university student majoring in medicine, walked onto the stage of China's Got Talent last month in order to fulfill the dream of her father by playing a difficult and dangerous traditional Chinese musical instrument - the kouxian (or kouqinzi). It's "dangerous" because when placed deep inside the mouth, this kouxian is in apt to slip into the esophagus. With the narrow spectrum of this high-pitched folk music emanating from this special kind of harmonica, Tang's performance both excited and enthralled the audience and judges.

But the 24-year-old student from the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine has achieved success at a cost; the cost of sacrificing her own true interests.

"I am really happy I have realized my father's dream. But it is his dream, not mine," Tang told the Global Times. "I just wanted to be an ordinary girl with a carefree childhood, doing whatever I wanted to do in my spare time. From now on, I hope I can do those things and take control of my own destiny."

Beautiful music

Originating from Shanxi and Hebei provinces, the kouxian that Tang played is today in danger of extinction. It is made from two copper sheets and a silk ribbon and is usually 3-4 centimeter long and 2 centimeter wide. Unlike ordinary harmonicas, it is placed in the very depths of the oral cavity when played. The sound is produced by breathing in order to vibrate the silk ribbon.

The judges on China's Got Talent were so taken aback by the performance, that most stared in disbelief during the show. One judge, the renowned musician Gao Xiaosong, said it was the first time he had seen the musical instrument or had ever heard such a beautiful sound.

From grade three at primary school, Tang began to learn suona, a kind of woodwind folk-musical instrument similar to the kouxian in terms of playing skills.

"I was fascinated by folk music when I was a child, but I had no chance to practice it due to financial reasons," said Tang Renliang, Tang's father. "So when I learnt that her primary school was starting folk music lessons, I encouraged her to join."

However, Tang was unhappy about playing the suona, which places a great demand on physical strength in order to create the sound.

By the third year of high school, all Tang's female classmates who had started playing the suona had given it up. Tang's perseverance, however, laid a solid foundation for taking up the kouxian later that year.

"I happened to know a renowned teacher at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who was an expert in the kouxian," said Tang Renliang. The teacher told the family that few people were prepared to learn the instrument, because of the danger in practicing it.

"She also told me that my daughter had a talent for stage performance," said Tang. "If she studied hard, she could maybe perform the kouxian on stage one day."

Later that year, Tang faced the added pressure of preparing for the college entrance examination. Her father hesitated about her continuing, but was finally convinced it was the right course to take because her kouxian expertise may have won her extra points for the entrance test.

Tang perfected her own way of dealing with the danger of practicing. She fastened a thread to the copper sheets in order to prevent them slipping into her esophagus. However, what she couldn't control was the feeling of nausea and vomiting which lasted for up to six months.
Hard times

It was a tough time for Tang. She had classes at her teacher's home twice a week, and had to practice for months before being able to produce a sound.

Accompanied by her father on each occasion Tang had no opportunity to bunk off classes either. Sometimes, she pretended to be sick; a ruse that never fooled her father. But even when she really fell sick, she still had to go, even though her mother tried to persuade her father to let her stay away.

"My daughter had nearly no spare time for herself, even when she wasn't feeling well," said Tang's mother, Bao Meifang. "If she wasn't on the way to school, she would be en route to the kouxian teacher's house."

Tang's father added: "She was a premature baby and was only half the weight of regular births, which made it easier for her to fall sick. But I did not want to make an exception, even for sickness, because I was worried that she would give up."

Although Tang did not want to make her father angry, she was confused by her father's behavior. "Sometimes I couldn't help myself asking my mother 'is that man really my father?'" she said.

Tang's father was a sailor before he retired several years ago. "I gave up this career when my daughter was eight years old, and devoted all my spare time to accompanying her growth," he said.

Partly because of her frail health, Tang expressed an interest in medicine in the last year of high school. She successfully applied to the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine with the support of her mother, although her father wanted her to go into a musical conservatory.

She needed higher scores to go to medical school than to get into the conservatory. "But my mother assisted me with my homework whenever I finished my kouxian classes," she said.

Living in a university dormitory and far away from home, Tang felt guilty about her father and still hoped she could realize his dream one day. So she still often took out the kouxian to practice.

"Though I once complained, I understand him better now," she told the Global Times. "Because of his insistence, I am sure this great effort I've made will help me in the future."